GTR new booking engine

[andrewkeith5]

I saw a post when the Northern (or TPE, can't remember, I think Northern) franchise winner rumours were going around that said that Govia's bid had been rejected for being substandard, so if true, I think that shows GTR/Govia aren't just incompetent, they plain don't care.

Have I went too off-topic?

It is very easy to submit a bid that the assessor will consider substandard or non-compliant when bidding for government contracts. Quite often if you have a better idea than precisely what the ITT asks for, even if you can prove why it's better you can get marked down. I've seen entire bidding processes canned because none of the bidders met 100% of the requirements before.

 

[Class 466]

Southeastern have today launched their branded version of the new booking engine: https://ticket.southeasternrailway.co.uk/search

 

[Mojo]

Be careful when you use this new booking engine. It seems to be overcharging for Advance tickets on the exact same itineraries (and no, the quota hasn't run out).

 

[linusnorton]

I was involved in the new Go-Ahead TIS. It's old news now but if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Essentially Assertis (a TIS supplier) and Go-Ahead made a joint venture, On-Track Retail to develop the system.

I was CTO there now but left April 2016 (On-Track Retail, not Assertis).

Anyway, I'm glad some of you like it, it was an interesting project.

 

[superkopite]

Hey Linus,

Nice to see you on these boards

James

 

[talldave]

Sadly, the fact that it insists on you choosing trains and its obsession with maps meant it takes longer to buy a ticket, so I took my business elsewhere.

I'd be interested to know the make-up of the user base that was researched before a decision was taken to make ticket purchasing more complicated and slower than it was previously?

 

[linusnorton]

Having built a few different interfaces for ticketing systems over the years I'm inclined to agree, but to be fair we do get a lot of people saying that they like it. To each their own I guess.

Although we did the build of the frontend and the backend, the user experience and design was done by a company called The Mobile App Business (they also do the apps). A hint for their design priorities is in the company name

Just out of interest what is your preferred choice now? Personally I can't really stand the ATOS system or trainline's system. With a rather large dose of bias I prefer our own, which I'll avoid advertising. It's certainly not without it's issues but it was good at the time we built it.

We're looking at building something new so feedback is always welcome.

 

[talldave]

I'm currently using Hull Trains' site. Let's me buy tickets without a pointless GUI courtesy of the apple obsessed generation!

However, perhaps I'm not a typical user as I know what ticket I want before I arrive at the site. Perhaps travel planning and ticket purchase are two separate activities??

 

[sheff1]

Just out of interest what is your preferred choice now?

I do not, if at all possible, use sites which force me to choose specific trains when the ticket conditions do not require it. I most certainly do not want a map taking up more than half the screen to show me where Sheffield is - I know !

 

[linusnorton]

@talldave yes it sounds like you just need a fares query really. There a couple about, I guess the best one by a mile is Paul's (indiegogo or something?).

I started a fares website a while back to get to grips with the data:

http://fares.traintickets.to/index.html

I haven't done the advance fare pre-booking times yet and I'm having some issues with the current/future dates in the fares feed so some restrictions data is incorrect. I'll keep going and maybe make a separate post about it if it looks like it might be useful.

@sheff1 yes the map is certainly divisive. I know which side of the fence I'm on

Hull trains is just ATOS. It's okay I guess but I find it struggles when there are many types of fares.

Southwest Trains new site is quite nice but definitely geared towards novice users. From memory they did some quite clever things to mask the complexity of two single vs return ticket prices. But masking complexity may be good for some users and not for others.

 

[joncombe]

Southwest Trains new site is quite nice but definitely geared towards novice users. From memory they did some quite clever things to mask the complexity of two single vs return ticket prices. But masking complexity may be good for some users and not for others.

It was dummed down though and it still does not offer the ability to set a "via" point so for example preventing you buying tickets on South West Trains own trains for some journies (e.g. Woking to Exeter where it will route you via Paddington not Salisbury). I was told it was going to be added, but it never has been. It also suffers in that it takes up an entire PC screen, yet they launched a mobile app at the same time.

 

[AntonyC]

@linusnorton have you seen the new interface for GTR, London Midland and Southeastern since it was launched?

 

[linusnorton]

@antonyc - just looking through now. Initial thoughts are good with a few minor bugbears:

- 3 trains in each direction is not enough
- That's a lot of shades of grey! (not quite 50)
- The first/class standard class filters feel a bit like they're floating in the middle of nowhere

Apart from that it's looking nice. I like the ticket information pop up.