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 | Minutes
of our AGM meeting 10th of June 2010 |
| Minutes of the 12th of May
2011 Meeting
Alnmouth
Rail Users Group Newsletter no.1
December
2011
ARUG has worked
through the past year to improve services and has communicated with
the diverse train operators to inform them of things we think the rail
users need/like to have done.
This has resulted
in the following achievements:
 | From
the 12th of December
2011
there will be an extra stop during
weekdays for the
8:12 pm
XC service from
Newcastle
at Alnmouth (this train will also
provide a new direct service from
Southampton
,
Reading
and Oxford, and also provide a
good connection at
Newcastle
out of the
5:00 pm
from
London
’s King Cross. Furthermore, on Saturdays, there will be
extra services at
09:08 am
to
Newcastle
(and
stations to
Plymouth
via
Birmingham
) and
12:58
to
Newcastle
(and
stations to
London
).
|
| We
have launched a survey for rail users from Alnmouth, if you would
care to take 3 minutes to do the survey, we will endeavour to use
this as a starting point for the next time we speak with train
operators.
|
Please
go to: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/86VTHRB
| Through
involvement of Sir Alan Beith, Northern have assured us that
Alnmouth Station will remain as is, unless there are other
developments from the government.
|
| Have you seen the new
ticketmachine and bike stores ?
|
|
Other news:
New East Coast
timetable: Latest news
All Alnmouth station users are reminded that the
new winter timetable is now in operation. Please check your journey times
as there have been a few minor changes to times. ARUG is also pleased to
highlight the following new services, which have been provided by the
Train Operating Companies in direct response to ARUG feedback on the
previous May 2011 timetable.
|
An extra Cross
Country (XC) service on weekdays from Newcastle at 2011 to Alnmouth.
This provides a good connection out of the East Coast 1700 from London
and also provides a new direct return service from Southampton,
Reading, Oxford and intermediate stations via Birmingham. |
|
An extra XC service
on Saturdays from Alnmouth at 0908 to Newcastle, Birmingham, Plymouth
and intermediate stations. This goes some way to reducing the previous
4 hour gap in XC services. This
also provides a further opportunity to make use of the reduced price
XC only fare for a return to Newcastle on a Saturday, as the majority
of return services in afternoon/early evening are XC. |
|
An
extra East Coast service on Saturdays from Alnmouth at 1258 to
Newcastle and London. There are now East Coast trains to London at
approx 2 hourly intervals on Saturdays and the overall (all operator)
Saturday service is now approx hourly from start of service through to
mid afternoon. |
Please feel free to send any feedback to this e-mail
address or contact us via the ARUG website www.arug.org.uk,
or info@arug.org.uk
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Find
cheaper rail fares
Please
find below links to cheaper rail fares:
www.mytrainticket.co.uk
and:
Find cheaper rail fares from the Transport
Direct journey-planning website: www.transportdirect.info?
Type in your start and destination points and the times you want to
travel, then wait for the search engine to come up with a range of fares
and their availability. Transport Direct claims to have just recorded the
50 millionth user of its website tools. In a recent survey, 92 per cent of
users said they find the Transport Direct site easy to use; almost half of
users were given a quicker route for a familiar journey. Real time
information on road and rail disruption allows travelers to avoid
unnecessary delays to their journey while extensive maps show the
locations of bus stops and train stations, and also suggest where traffic
congestion may occur. - DfT press release
SOUTHBOUND
DEPARTURES - 07:08 AND 07:59 - TRAVELLING
BEYOND DERBY?
BE
AWARE OF CHANGES BEFORE BUYING TICKETS. WHEN PURCHASING AT
ALNMOUTH STATION, ASK STAFF FOR THEIR ADVICE FOR CHEAPEST WAY TO PURCHASE
THESE TICKETS (SEE EXAMPLES BELOW)
|
A
classic example of the railway increasing fares by stealth and over
complicating an already complex web of fares and anomalies.
On
02 Jan 2012, Cross Country (XC) have introduced restrictions on the
use of Off peak tickets, including "off peak returns" -
formerly known as saver returns, which are used for journeys of >
50 miles allowing return travel up to a month later. These tickets
are flexible with no advance purchase requirement.
Off
peak returns, on routes where XC sets the fares will no
longer be valid BEFORE 0930 Monday to Friday.
This is a very complex area. As far as Alnmouth is concerned:
| No
impact on northbound departures as the first XC train is after
0930, and XC do not set any fares to northbound destinations.
|
| For
southbound departures on the 0708 and 0759
|
| No
impact if travelling to Derby or intermediate stations between
Alnmouth and Derby - this is because East Coast sets this
fare, even though your journey may wholly involve a XC train
|
| If
travelling to Tamworth/Birmingham or south thereof, the return
price has potentially DOUBLED (e.g. buying one through ticket
to Birmingham would now cost £202 on these departures, rather
than the off peak return of about half this figure).
|
GOOD NEWS - there is a perfectly legitimate
work around to avoid this unjust restriction. This involves use of a
"split ticket" i.e. buying two different tickets to cover
your journey. This is perfectly valid as long as the train stops at
the station where you have split your tickets in both directions -
there is no need to leave the train.
For
example - if you have to travel to Birmingham on the 0708 departure,
to avoid having to buy the "£202 return" -
1.
Purchase an off peak return from Alnmouth to Sheffield - cost
£66.80
2.
Purchase an off peak return from Sheffield to Birmingham - cost £40.
(The 0708 departure from Alnmouth leaves Sheffield at 0954, so off
peak tickets are valid by the time this train gets there).
Alnmouth
ticket office will sell you both tickets. In general ticket
office staff do not have to advise a passenger that there may be a
cheaper split ticket alternative, but have to sell the split tickets
if the passenger asks. ARUG believes that the Alnmouth staff are
aware of the anomaly and will try and help secure the best fare.
Disclaimer
ARUG
has provided this information in good faith, however errors and
omissions excepted. Please check fare alternatives using on line
journey planners to obtain the best split ticket options
(suggestions are Sheffield or Derby if heading to Birmingham,
Midlands, South Coast or South West). |
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Crosscountry
bring refurbished
HSTs on line
Operating
from Glasgow to Plymouth (via ALNMOUTH), CrossCountry has introduced
four refurbished High Speed Trains (HSTs) into service since autumn
2011
 |
The 125mph diesel-powered HSTs will
regularly operate on CrossCountry’s North East – South West
route, serving key towns and cities including; Edinburgh, Newcastle,
Durham, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Doncaster, Sheffield, Derby,
Birmingham, Cheltenham, Bristol, Exeter and Plymouth.
The Company’s exciting HST refurbishment
programme includes a redesign of the First Class and Standard
carriages, providing extra capacity that will see each HST having
542 seats spread between eight carriages – that’s more seats
than a jumbo jet! |
The
carriages feature contemporary and modern colour schemes and have been
fitted with new seating and tables, carpets, curtains, refreshed toilet
facilities, enhanced lighting and power sockets throughout. Importantly,
the refurbishment also delivers significantly more space for luggage. The
power cars are fitted with new MTU-built engines to increase reliability,
improve fuel efficiency and produce lower emissions.
CrossCountry
says: “We’re delighted to have our first HST
operating. These trains deliver the extra capacity our passengers and
stakeholders tell us they want, and their introduction also means we’re
on track to deliver our promise of increasing seating by 35 per cent.”
ARUG
says: ”the increased capacity
will be most welcome as will be the new standard of comfort. All we need
now is the extended car park to accommodate the increasing number of
passengers”.
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