I tried to buy 2 off peak singles today one from London Euston to Birmingham and one from Birmingham to Sutton Coldfield only to be told that there aren’t any off peak singles and that off peak tickets are only valid after certain times even on Saturdays ? When did this change I’m sure Saturday was all off peak and also that off peak singles where a thing?
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No more off peak singles ?
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Haywain
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There are a number of versions of Off Peak Singles available for London to Birmingham, so whoever told you that was spouting utter hogwash.
To clarify, between Birmingham and London, weekend (Saturday) restrictions only apply to Super Off-Peak fares routed "WMR/LNR only".
Super Off-Peak fares routed "via High Wycombe" (i.e. for use on Chiltern services from Marylebone) don't have weekend restrictions, nor do any of the Off-Peak fares (regardless of route).
Rail Ranger
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brfares.com presumably makes this clear.
It does, but it's also not an official source of information. (Though given some of the rubbish that the National Rail journey planner has come up with in the past, BRFares is more reliable!)
It was about £40 for a anytime single I checked at the machine and at the ticket desks and neither had the option for an off peak single the train I got was at 14:16 (the aircon on the train didn’t work for some of the carriages but they did declassify first class since the aircon worked for those )
I was told I could only buy an off peak ticket if it was a return journey same response I got at new street from avanti staff when I asked for an off peak single from new street to Sutton Coldfield
Haywain
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In the case of New Street to Sutton Coldfield they are correct, there is no Off Peak Single, although there is a cheaper Evening Day Single valid after 18.30. Of course, you can buy through tickets from London to Sutton Coldfield and an Off Peak Single would have cost £46.00.
Lemmy99uk
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Which appears to be what was paid for the single to Birmingham New Street.
A case of inappropriate split ticketing?
Haywain
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It appears that you paid for an Off Peak single. Perhaps you misunderstood being told that there is no Peak/Off Peak distinction at weekends?
I’m getting the impression the OP thought the price would be cheaper. However there’s no direct trains to allow travel on the £29 LNR only ticket (bus replacement Milton Keynes - Northampton) which is the only cheaper choice for today and the £19 Super Off Peak not being valid
Kite159
Veteran Member
However LNR were running the Crewe trains as normal (all be with pick up only at Milton Keynes) which the OP could have taken to Rugby to change to a Northampton - Birmingham LNR service.
Which even in normal times (when Northampton is open) can be faster than the direct train
I was just going off a cursory search of RTT but you’re right. Either way the OP took the 1416 which was an Avanti so it looks like the cheapest option if that was the intention was the £46 through ticket to Sutton Coldfield and Haywains theory could be correct
gray1404
Established Member
Where you expecting to buy a cheaper Super Off Peak or Off Peak Single that is only valid on London North Western Railway Services from London to Birmingham?
It seems that such a journey may still have been possible with an additional change. Depending on exactly what was said at the booking office,.you may have been missold a ticket.
The cheapest anytime single from London to Birmingham is £58.70, so if you paid "about £40" you did not have an anytime single.
The cheapest walk-up fare for a journey from London to Birmingham on Avanti, which is the only operator on that route with first class, is an off-peak single for £46. The same fare applies from London to Sutton Coldfield, but if you for some reason asked for two separate tickets then that is what you would be sold. Avanti was the only operator running direct trains from Euston to Birmingham yesterday, so if you specified a direct service that would also have been taken into account.
You have been correctly advised that this route does not have off-peak single tickets, only anytime and evening, and that off peak day returns are available. Fares on this route are set by TFWM so if you have an issue with that I would suggest contacting them.
Based on the information available so far I'm unable to conclude that any mis-sale occurred. There may have been a misunderstanding by the passenger, or potentially an unclear communication by ticketing staff, but it does not appear to me that there has been anything more. Denouncing staff as "spouting utter hogwash" seems an overreaction. If additional information comes to light, such as the precise price the passenger paid and the precise tickets they were issued, I reserve the right to revise this view.
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