The Separation of Railway and Railway

Well if Mícheál keeps doing these so must I.

Once upon a time we had British Rail and Northern Irish Railways. Then I never had a problem booking a through ticket from Larne/Belfast to Surbiton incorporating the ferry across the Irish Sea. In fact I was so adept at it that often the ticket office in Surbiton's Art Deco station were taught how to book it by me booking my end of term ticket. There were also times that I could book it at my fully manned local station, a terminus on the Northern Irish rail network*.

Well yesterday I was attempted to buy a rail/sail ticket to get me over to Scotland. You'd think that this could be purchased at any ticket office. Well you'd be wrong I had to go to Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) travel office at Great Victoria Street (GVS), because Translink the Rail and Bus provider do not have the ability to sell that ticket to me.

So I hopped on what is actually almost becoming my regular commute (you thought I was working from home and not commuting), the 16:35 express to Belfast Central: where it terminates. I just missed the next connection to GVS it was pulling out on platform 2 as I was getting off a train on the other set of platforms at platform 4 at 16:52. Next train wasn't until 17:12 heading that way, so I would be quicker walking. I arrived at GVS at 17:01 and the NIR Travel Office was totally shut up. Not only that but it did not have any sign in the window to indicate opening hours.

Mícheál turned up as well as he was also looking to buy a ticket to Scotland. I told him of the situation so we went to the ticket office at GVS which is about 10 metres away from the NIR Travel Office to enquire. They couldn't sell us a ticket and when we asked the gentleman behind the counter if he could inform NIR Travel Office that displaying their opening hours on or near the door may be helpful. He said they weren't part of the same company.

Now I decided to look up how separate the two companies are so checked out their respective websites:

Translink is http://www.translink.co.uk/

Northern Ireland Railways is http://www.translink.co.uk/NI-Railways/

Hello!!

I've never had this issue at Waverley. Firstly I can do it at the Virgin/FirstScotRail travel centre of the same day ticket office. I can also do this at Haymarket should I wish. The travel office is open beyond 5pm, therefore those of us who work on the outskirts of the metropolitan area don't have to get out of work between 9 and 5 to get in there to make a special trip to buy tickets.

For a country as small as Northern Ireland not to be able to deal with this that travel tickets can only be bought during working hours at one location it is a wonder than anybody in Northern Ireland uses the train to get anywhere on the British mainland.

Update The solution we came to was that I gave Mícheál money for him to buy both our tickets today.

*Yes Caron we have a full network. ;)

MPs Can Travel by First Class Rail...

If Sir Nicholas Winterton wants to travel up to Macclesfield in a first class carriage he is more than entitled to do so. This is after all a free country and we protect people's liberties. Of course the fact that "They are a totally different type of people" would not entirely endear him to the masses of potential voters who inhabit standard seats, or the future voters running up and down the aisle, who will all still be children when Sir Nicholas retires this year.

Of course some of his other arguments for coming down from Macclesfield do not make a lot of sense, so maybe he really is out of touch. I didn't for example realise that the greater Macclesfield metropolis extended far enough for local councillors to have the option to travel first class between their ward and the council offices. I really must try and stay awake next time I travel through on the train, I've clearly missed vast swathes of Macclesfield, and another mainline station.

He can overcome the being unable to get a seat by that wonderful convenience of a reservation, it is small extra amount he'd have to pay to guarantee the seat of his choosing, then he would "always get a seat" in standard if he wanted. I believe this reservation system has been around almost since the advent of the first steam trains. Wonderful what you can do these days.

As for peace and quiet I believe there is a quiet coach in standard on the Macclesfield to London trains so he could reserve a seat in there if he wishes. Just woe betide him if he starts up him laptop not in quiet mode and the Microsoft ident whistles out around the coach.

Although as I said should he, or any other MP, still be desirous to travel by first class they should be allowed to do so. Buy a standard ticket, and keep the receipt, and then purchase the upgrade that many of he rest of us do if we are a particular long journey.

As I said we live in a free country and the option is there for them to do so, just don't expect us to pick up the tab for that desire to be a class apart.