It doesn't make sense, but I think it is the true reason.
It's been discussed on here before that, if you have a ticket restricted to a TOC, then the TOC restriction still remains in place even if you excess the fare to a different ticket. Because the initial ticket has the TOC restriction, it can't be excessed away.
Chiltern Railways specifically set their ticket as VIA HIGH WYCOMBE to avoid this problem.
In this case, though, there isn't a way of putting a TOC restriction in as a route restriction. So it has to be a TOC restriction.
As these are walk-up tickets the passenger can ask for a refund if they've not used the ticket. Which is fine if they're stopped on the first leg. Not so good if they're stopped on the return.
It isn't a new problem though. I used to commute Newcastle-Durham on XC ONLY day returns because they were cheaper than a season ticket and, because of when I started and finished work, 9/10 I was on an XC train anyway. But TPE and NXEC/EC guards used to have their work cut out with Durham students "misunderstanding" the restriction.
None of this explains why a "Route High Wycombe" ticket should be excessed yet a "Route LM Only" ticket should not.
Revenue has absolutely nothing to do with validity; VTEC probably get next to nothing from the sale of a London to Huntington ticket and absolutely nothing from the sale of a Huntington to Peterborough Season ticket, yet the combination is valid on VTEC services from London to Peterborough.
... the TSA seems to be quite clear that when you excess a fare, it is converted completely into the new fare, not a hybrid or a made-up fare, so the TOC-only restriction disappears - there is no fare with the TOC restriction into which it can be converted....
True. The
TSA is definitive and train Companies are obliged to honour it.
Ticketing and Settlement Agreement said:
“Excess Fare” means a variation in the Rights and Restrictions applicable to a Fare which has the impact of converting that Fare into another Fare”
How has it led to to 'staff assaults, arrests and public disorder?!
I guess some people will (quite rightly) consider it unreasonable to be requested to buy a brand new ticket at a ludicrous cost. Depending on how the person who is attempting to extract money is wording the request, and depending on how the person who is being ripped-off words their reaction, I could imagine things could have the
potential to escalate.
While the
vast majority of Guards and passengers alike on this route are reasonable people, I can certainly imagine one or two Guards acting in a provocative manner, and I can equally certainly imagine some passengers not reacting well to it.
But the cause is not the fares themselves, but the lack of adequate information when tickets are sold, and the ludicrous and unjustifiable excess fare rules that don't allow excesses to be issued, causing unreasonable (and potentially unlawful) demands to be made, compounded in
some cases by poor attitude from one side and/or the other.
I would absolutely and utterly reject any price increases that result from any disputes, but train companies
are putting their staff in difficult positions (and sometimes with inadequate conflict avoidance training) by having ludicrous, unfair and unjust
procedures and policies in place.