Examples of it being cheaper to buy a ticket from A to C via B than from B to C?

[A S Leib]

A Didcot Parkway - Swindon off-peak day return is £14.80, but the equivalent (avoiding Reading) from Oxford is £13.40. In both cases the earliest it's possible to arrive at Swindon is 09:55, so why does the anomaly exist? Are there any other similar situations?

 

[JonathanH]

A Didcot Parkway - Swindon off-peak day return is £14.80, but the equivalent (avoiding Reading) from Oxford is £13.40. In both cases the earliest it's possible to arrive at Swindon is 09:55, so why does the anomaly exist? Are there any other similar situations?

Looks like a bit of an oversight. Perhaps the Oxford to Swindon fare needs to be increased.

 

[Randomer]

Undoubtedly, yes, other anomalies exist.

However, most people will be unwilling to share a lot of them publicly. Anomalies mentioned on here are often picked up by the people at a TOC responsible for setting fares and changing the routing guide (which also affect validity.) This results in people paying more than they would otherwise have to.

 

[miklcct]

It is very common. If there is one fare per reply the thread will run for hundreds of pages.

 

[Hadders]

Fares are not based on mileage but on what the market will bear. That said I wouldn't be surprised if this is 'fixed' now it's been mentioned on here, but don't expect the fare from Didcot to reduce.

 

[bunnahabhain]

Sleaford to Norwich is by far cheaper than Grantham to Norwich, by virtue of it being priced via the closed route from Spalding to March.

 

[yorkie]

A Didcot Parkway - Swindon off-peak day return is £14.80, but the equivalent (avoiding Reading) from Oxford is £13.40. In both cases the earliest it's possible to arrive at Swindon is 09:55, so why does the anomaly exist? Are there any other similar situations?

I am not going to post more than one example because the most common outcome is for the cheaper fare to be increased.

In this case there is a real risk of Swindon to Didcot going up in price; the outcome will be to encourage people onto the direct bus service but GWR would probably rather lose out on custom on that flow to the bus than lose revenue from people making the shorter journey for which they charge a premium fare, and starting or finishing short with the Oxford ticket.

So the example I will post is Brighton to Southampton route Not via London is valid via Clapham Junction but is cheaper than Clapham Junction to Southampton.

I am only posting this as it has been widely publicised and both the price and routeing appear to be protected (unless/until fares reform allows prices to rise) and so the train companies cannot do anything about it.

Any other examples could see prices rise which would be very bad for the customers who actually make those journeys, as they will either have to pay more for their journeys or be forced onto other transport modes or simply make fewer journeys.

It is very common. If there is one fare per reply the thread will run for hundreds of pages.

It would be like a gold mine for pricing managers!

 

[mikeb42]

There are various quirks. Though that's likely just reduced the number by one.

This will make the price gouging of clued-up regular sufferers of this unreliable, unpunctual route which is continually being soiled with unadvertised 5-coach IET excuses-for-a-train recently still more of an advertisement for driving instead. As if it needed one, even with £2 a litre fuel and environmental concerns.

"Not as deplorable as Avanti" isn't much of a slogan for this bit of Goes Wrong Routinely, but about all it deserves for super-premium pricing of mediocre service.

 

[JonathanH]

It would be like a gold mine for pricing managers!

While I understand that pointing out some places where C to B is cheaper than A to B via C does lead to fares being changed, is it really the case that GWR's pricing manager would not be aware of straightforward anomalies like the already mentioned Oxford to Swindon being cheaper than Didcot to Swindon?

Surely the job of a pricing manager is to be fully on top of all fares under their control and almost have encyclopedic knowledge of them?

Totally agree that it isn't ideal to point out anomalies here though.

 

[Watershed]

Surely the job of a pricing manager is to be fully on top of all fares under their control and almost have encyclopedic knowledge of them?

I admire your optimism!