prices at galas

For our Gala "normal" return prices and single prices apply. Allowing someone who just happens to turn up for a trip not to be "done over" as such.
However a Day Rover is more due to more locos, more services and things like that.
Thats how we have operated for years and it seems very fair as if your wanting to spend a day, an extra £2 or £3 for 7 or 8 extra locos and 4 or 5 more round trips isnt too bad?

 

I can see the sense behind this. My line, The Churnet Valley, gains much needed revenue from walkers who have walked two miles down the canal followed by a big lunch in the pub, then want an easy way to get back down the valley to their car!

Yes they did and indeed still do. I took advantage of this several times during a 2-week summer visit to the area... an excellent line, even on normal days, although I do wish the Quads would be out when I visit

 

It certainly used to be the case. One of the 'tests' for being a transport system and thus zero rated was that you could buy a single ticket between two stations. However, I'm not sure whether the rules have changed in recent years. Another test was that the two stations had to be in separate curtilages, which would have caught out the likes of Alton Towers, and it may be this aspect that has changed.

 

I met him on the 10.38 off Bewdley on the Saturday 7802 M(6) + VV. He was taking it through to Bridgnorth, then returning as far as Hampton Loade on the 11.38 behind 34070, take photo's from a footpath, and return to Kidderminster late afternoon. He said he done it before.

 

Special events aimed at the family market are still special events with extra costs: licensing the Thomas brand isn't cheap.

Not our exact wording, but standard when Heaton Park run the horse tram: a surcharge for it but standard fare for the ordinary trams. However, not every gala has a path to spare for a normal train.

The SVR railcar gala does have a normal (steam) train on Saturday and Sunday; is that rover fares only as well, or are you travelling on Friday (which is railcars only, but would have been closed completely if it wasn't an event)?

I'd heard of the "at least two stations" rule before, but not anything about ticketing, and day rover tickets are common on serious public transport: London Travelcard, FirstDay bus (often the cheapest return even for distances significantly less than its maximum), etc.

 

Embsay did if you attended their Harvest of Steam Gala, if you visited on a normal service day within 12 months you got a couple of quid off your ticket.

 

I'm sure the very issue has been discussed before, if not on here then on the SVR forum - and iirc it was decided that the through ticket IS valid, but only for a round trip rather than a rover.

 

On the Spa Valley Railway on normal days the round trip return is valid for unlimited travel except on Gala Days.
On Gala Days a simple system operates- normal singles between any stations at usual fares, a normal return ticket permits one round trip at normal fare, a day rover ticket is introduced at higher fare permitting unlimited travel for the day.
On "Day out with Thomas" days I beleive that only ticket can be issued covering everything as per the contract ( except different fare levels for concessions).

 

I think maybe my post didnt quite it the point i was making..

the FULL line return ticket should be treated as an "admission ticket".. in otherwords it's the rover ticket.
Any other tickets covering only part of the line are just that..O&R tickets... and maybe priced in a way that encourages a full line ticket rather than a part line.. (i.e. £9.00 for a partial return vs £10 for the rover etc).

People will psychologically aim for the "admission ticket" except where they really cant do the whole line.

This then ends the saga of the "severn valley jumper" and encourages full line ticket sales.

At Galas however the railways are dead on charging higher rates and it's a better quality date.

 

One thing that annoys me is when you buy a day rover ticket and then are expected to pay extra for brakevan rides or shuttles to parts of the line not normally used by the public. I don't mean donations for brake van rides, I don't mind that, but one railway wanted a set fee (which was quite high) for about 50m brakevan ride and put me off going on it. If everyone had paid a little extra for their rover I feel they could have had this included in the fare.

 

They could, but then you'd have people unhappy that the rover fare was too high, and possibly a queue for the brakevan: as different customers want different things, it's impossible to please everyone all the time.

 

Seperate tickets for Shuttle and Brake Van rides over an extension to a railhead or a siding are necessary for accounting purposes. Travel tickets between stations are not subject to VAT, whereas the Shuttle and Brake Van rides are.

Chris