Excessing part of a journey

[TobyH]

I suspect I know the answer to this but would like to confirm anyway.

I have a STD Off-Peak Return from Great Malvern to Bracknell. I will be changing at Reading on both legs of the journey. The ticket is a through ticket and there are no splits involved.

Now I know I can excess to First Class for one LEG of the journey but what I would perhaps like to do is upgrade just for the stints between Reading and Bracknell and back. My thinking being that I will be hitting Reading about 4pm on the outward and about 5:30pm on the return so it is likely to be extremely busy. Upgrading should mean I get a seat.

Can this be done?

Thanks

 

[yorkie]

Unlikely. See 4.2.2 Excess procedures: Upgrade to First Class for the rules.

• For ONE portion (Outward or Return) of a Return ticket, the charge is the DIFFERENCE between the price already paid and the SUM of the appropriate Standard Single for one leg and the appropriate First Single for the other leg. If cheaper then the FULL difference between the Standard Return and the First Return (as if upgrading both legs) is charged.*

Ticket held = Off Peak Return via Evesham (?) £55.00
Standard Single via Evesham: £40.50 + 1st Single via Evesham: £68.50. TOTAL = £109
Therefore the excess would be a whopping £54.

However if you used the cheaper not via London Off Peak Return, then it's unclear to me what you'd have to pay, because the singles Not via London cost more, and I am unsure if you'd have to pay that premium compared to via Evesham if you did travel via Evesham.

In practice, some TOCs will agree to a relaxation of the rules and do an excess for just the relevant section of the journey as a special concession. I recall a friendly and knowledgeable TPE guard informing me this was TPEs policy, but I do not know if it still is their policy, and I have no idea whether SWT have a similar policy, though I suspect not! We have several current and ex-SWT staff on here, some are commercial Guards, so you might get an answer regarding SWT's policy...

 

[TobyH]

Thanks yorkie.

I did read the Fares Guide to see if there was anything in there. I did suspect that it would have to be the entire leg rather than part of it. I'll just have to chance it as the excess for the entire leg is a tad much for me

To answer the question the ticket is £52 - Not Via London

 

[yorkie]

There's no harm in asking for it, though whether a clerk will issue such an excess I do not know. I am also unsure if you can ask the Guard on that train; I suspect the guards on that route may be non-commercial as I've never known a ticket check on those trains (though it's not quite my local line , so my experience is negligible and insignificant compared to others!) in which case they'd be unable to issue the excess.

I'll send a PM to a couple of SWT Guards who I know and see if they can answer.

 

[bnm]

Might as well just buy Reading <-> Bracknell 1st Class Day Singles for £8.90 x 2 if you really want that 1st Class ride for 20 minutes each way.

My experience travelling between those two stations is that, even with your return at around 5.30pm, you'll always find a seat in Standard Class. Starting at Reading around 4pm - definitely no problem. From Bracknell around 5.30pm it'll be busier, but even then, the numbers would have thinned out a lot on the journey from Waterloo. I've never seen it full and standing between Bracknell and Reading.

 

[TobyH]

I'll send a PM to a couple of SWT Guards who I know and see if they can answer.

Thanks. Thats very kind.

 

[Monty]

Hi Toby, Yorkie made me aware of this thread so hopefully I can answer your question.

I am positive we (SWT Commercial Guards) are permitted to do an excess fare on part of a journey. The feature is available on our machines and I remember being told about it and taught how to make use of it. I shall refer to my commercial guide later this evening to give you a definitive answer.

The services on the Waterloo to Reading line are handled by a mixture of commercial and non-commercial guards, so it can be a bit of a lottery on what type you get. Generally speaking if the service you chose to travel on is diagrammed to have a commercial guard on board then usually that will always be the case and vice versa. That said the type of train that is normally used on the line at present is the Class 458/0 and they are not the most guard friendly units to do ticket checks on as the door controls can only be found in the cabs. This requires the guard to return to the middle each time the train arrives at a station, so most of the time the guard can be found in the middle of the train. This is set to change however and our Class 450 'Desiro' trains will soon be used on that line which shall make it much easier for the guards to be more visible to the public and carry out ticket checks.

Hope this helps!

 

[yorkie]

Thanks Monty If you can get clarification that'd be great, and we can look into updating the Fares Guide, as it sounds like the practice of excessing part of the ticket may actually be more widespread than we had thought!

 

[Flamingo]

I often do an excess for part of a journey. Usually, I "pretend" they are holding the same class and validity ticket for the section they wish to excess, and take it from there, eg, if they are going on the outward portion of a Cardiff to Cambridge Off-Peak return, and wish to excess Cardiff to Paddington, then I'll treat it as a Cardiff to Pad off-peak and look up the price of this ticket, which is what I'll knock off the 1st class ticket. Usually I'll compare the price of a "full distance" excess as well, as sometimes this can work out cheaper.

 

[Matt Taylor]

Thanks to Yorkie for the PM.

I don't have my commercial guide to hand so I cannot give a definitive answer but personally I would simply excess on the basis that you held a Reading to Bracknell ticket only. It seems nonsensical to pay £54 for an excess when a new ticket would be only £8.90!

 

[Monty]

Hey guys,

But of a weird one, the guide does indeed explain and show the user how to put an excess fare on part of a journey, but doesn't explicitly state that it's permitted. I'm going say that I still think that SWT allow it, but I shall seek a definitive answer from the powers that be.

 

[LexyBoy]

I'd second bnm's observations - you'll definitely have no problem getting a seat at 4, and shouldn't at 5.30 either although it will be quite busy. It only really fills up within 5-10 minutes of departure. (The FGW services on the North Downs on the other hand are invariably rammed).

Good to hear that SWT will do such excesses. If you do wish to try this I'd advise trying the guard on the FGW service, and if no luck then find the SWT guard before departure at Reading if possible - you're unlikely to see them onboard and they may not have time to deal with it between stations.

 

[TobyH]

Thanks for the great effort and help. If I give it a go I'll let you know how I get one.

Thanks again.