Embsay and Bolton Abbey Railway Updates

Over the years, there have been a few occasions when a visit to the box office of an allegedly full West End theatre has resulted in seats for me and my wife. Similar flexibility has been shown less often by some restaurants. I think service industries of all types are less helpful to their customers now than once they were.

 

We visited on the Sunday. Think the had 3 coach loads of Caledonian Travel customers across the day. It was crazy to have a gala as well as a normal Sunday way of operating taking place at the same time. What was annoying was you couldn't sit in the empty trains when Caledonian Travel customers had left or were in-between parties, no doubt the same will be happening again in June.

 

I note there is nothing on the website (or indeed at the ticket office) to say that the service is limited by signalling constraints at present, as you have explained. There is a single sentence about limited spaces on the website, but this is no more prominent than the usual T&Cs about potential cancellations, etc. being outside the control of the railway. It there was a quota of tickets, and it was anticipated these may sell out, then I would have thought it helpful to have a prominent banner to say as such on the website, and an explanatory notice at the station.

With regard to your question, I would expect to book in advance for a specific experience, such as a cream tea or Sunday lunch on the train (or more generally, a concert or restaurant meal) . However, I don't think I've ever been required to book in advance for a regular running day. I would further be concerned that, if I can't travel on a reasonably average March Sunday (and nothwithstanding the signalling constraints, it was still a two-train service), than there is going to be no chance at the height of the Summer Holidays! Perhaps I better book now lest the sun comes out in August!

Hey, the North Norfolk (and indeed any other railway) are at liberty to run whatever booking system they wish - that is entirely their perogative, and they can take my comments a constuctive criticism or an unalloyed dispargement. However, us bemoaners are equally at liberty to spend direct their spending as they see fit, and for me, it certainly makes me very wary of visiting a railway where on the day trade is likely to be an issue.

 

Maybe if they updated the website to reflect that walk ups are now at significant risk of not being able to travel rather than saying you can buy tickets in the day and promote a way of travelling and that no longer exists.

 

When I visited, the emphasis on pre-booking trips made me concerned about precisely that - but maybe I read between the lines in a different way.

 

It seems to me that communication is the key. If you're taking significant numbers of pre-bookings and it's likely that trains will sell out, then this should be clearly communicated through the website/social media.

I'd suggest that the bet approach is to close advance bookings at, say, 16.00 the previous day, then put out a post on socials saying, 'Here's our availability for tomorrow's trains: 10:00: good, 11:00: limited, 12:00: fully booked', etc. And then conclude by saying 'Walk-up tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis; we advise arriving early to avoid disappointment'.

Do this every operating day, and then hopefully, people will become more accustomed to the idea that they should check the website/socials before travelling. (Or, indeed, just book in advance.) Of course, you will always get one or two people who forget to check the website and are then disappointed--that's inevitable. No system is perfect. But at least then you can show that you did everything possible to make the situation as clear as possible.

It's true that pre-bookings can offer a great way for heritage railways to get reliable, predictable revenue streams. It's also true that if you've got empty seats on the day, and you have an opportunity to fill them, you should take it. The question is, how do you help people navigate your system so that you sell as many seats as possible whilst leaving as few people disappointed as possible?