West Somerset Railway General Discussion

For the record, I think everyone who has said they prefer that scenario fully understands and accepts why that is not currently possible. It was in response to Paul who suggested such arrangements ought to continue into the future when we get back to normal.

 

Not so much "ought" to as "very likely" to. There are lots of things which will be different from pre-pandemic. Not all will be bad.

 

I agree, and said there ought to be room for both the pre-book, fixed itinerary market and the turn up and do what you like market wen things are back to normal. Paul disagreed (just for a change ), and seemed to think we should stick to 100% pre-booked fixed itinerary even after the pandemic is over.

 

I agree, but the move to the current way of operating is not one of those in my opinion. It is necessary for now but I don't see why it should be endured for any longer than necessary. By all means railways should keep their online booking facility if they hadn't had one before, and carry on spoon-feeding fixed itineraries to those who want them, that's probably a good thing to encourage more passengers to have a more enjoyable day. But I don't see why you need to take away the ability to turn up and buy a ticket, then get on and off where you please.

 

To be clear I think it would be a good thing if it did, I just don't want it to be at the expense of more flexible options. When you start to get above 4 or 5 stations it's not really possible to have a fixed itinerary for every conceivable combination anyway, just some suggested ones for the more popular (or ones you wish to make more popular) ones.

 

There is a lot of thought in the thread about those who turn up on spec and hope to get a seat. Given that some of the heritage rail web fora are giving gushing reports of fully booked trains, in some instances. This could deter those hoping to 'just turn up' and get seats from even setting out or making a journey elsewhere.
One thing that has been apparent, post lockdown, for some leisure pursuits and areas, is how crowded many of the well known or publicised places can and have been. Beaches and tourist hot spots jammed packed. The last thing a heritage line needs, given its restricted coach seating at the present time, is too many upset customers with the unpleasantness that it can bring.
If you don't think there would be unpleasantness then consider some of the attitudes being exhibited of late and the selfish despoiling of parts of the countryside.

 

I merely report my experience. Cost was not the issue though.

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Seems a little OTT in the era of the i phone to feel pre-booking to be in some way restrictive. It enables visitors to be sure of seating at a time when capacity is restricted by virtue of social distancing . I suspect it will be some time before Rover Tickets are back, if they do return.

 

It is seat allocation not pre-booking that restricts flexibility. Pre-booking is needed to be able to allocate seats, or at least enough of the seats that there is a framework into which walk ups on the day can be slotted (one line of my close acquaintance is seeing about 60% pre booked and the rest bought on the day). It is very complex to allow flexibility within such a system whilst maintaining social distancing and not running out of capacity, and that complexity is something that would need to engineered back into the set up. There hasn't been the time so far and I am not certain there is yet the demand. One for the future.

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I am internet savvy, work in the technology industry, and am completely relaxed about online purchasing. I still find the need to pre book a constraint on my planning, and to change how I respond to a possible outing.

While we have Covid, I completely agree that the constraints are necessary, and previous flexibility is unavoidably unavailable. Once that constraint is removed, I ask that those wishing for my money consider all of the opinions of their customers, not just those that are convenient to them or fit particular preconceptions. That probably means supporting a mixed model in most cases.


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Well Paul, yesterday I had 1) No signal AT ALL on my mobile all day (rain) 2)A failure of my bank's on-line verification system so I couldn't complete my on-line grocery slot and 3) my computer decided to forget my user details for my business bank account. The internet is not always as instant and easy as it might be! Plus the combination of my eyes (I wear spectacles) and something odd about my natural resistivity mean that small touch screens, as on a smart phone, do not work well for me. I had to access some work data via my phone the other day as my tablet was not available and I nearly made a major "faux pas" So yes, pre-booking IS restrictive (my mother for one has no internet access at all) Neccessary at the moment, but restrictive nevertheless. I might have to post a few pictures of "Big Chuffers" on another thread just to cheer myself up

 

How big Chuffers are we talking? Something ‘Big Bertha’ wise?

 

I remember a comment from a US writer who asked why he had to buy a computer costing $1000 just to get in touch with his government

 

Always worth thinking about, and I remember doing some work for a government agency 20-odd years ago where they were rightly thinking carefully about that question. It is still relevant, even though many of us nowadays have multiple devices capable of being used for that purpose.

 

You may well be right.

 

There will always be people who don't have computers, or can't cope with them. Public libraries can be a great help with this; as long as the government doesn't force councils to keep on closing them as they were doing before the Corona crisis.