On Wed, 11 Feb 2004 16:53:13 +0000, Barry Salter
wrote:

On Wed, 11 Feb 2004 13:18:23 GMT, Rupert Goodwins
wrote:

Late on Saturday night, I had to get back from Gatwick Airport to
London. I bought my ticket from the machine in the station concourse
by credit card: it gave me the option of various travelcard discounts
(but not LT Gold Card, the one I have), so I chose Network Card as the
nearest equivalent and carried on.

The ticket issued showed Network Card and Gatwick Express.

rest snipped

So, what's going on there? If he hadn't tried to cover up the Gatwick
Express bit with his thumb, I'dve believed that he was surprised by
the thing, but clearly he's seen this plenty of times before and is
used to bluffing it out.

From railcard.co.uk (and also mentioned in the Network Railcard
leaflet):

Your Network Railcard cannot be used for travel in First Class, on
Railair Links, on Gatwick Express, Anglia Railways mainline trains
starting and terminating in London Liverpool Street station, Eurostar,
Heathrow Express, special excursions or charters, to buy season tickets
or period Travelcards or in conjunction with some Train Company special
offers


(snip)


So in this case, the Ticket Inspector was correct...

(snip)

HTH,


Thanks. I didn't get a leaflet with my card (it's an Oyster) and
railcard.co.uk doesn't mention LT Gold Cards. Is it the same as a
Network Railcard?

I must say, I find the Gatwick Express/South Central mix confusing.
Especially late on a Saturday night, and *especially* after a long
party in Lewes to celebrate a journalist's 50th birthday.

Barry

Rupert

On Wed, 11 Feb 2004 23:38:21 GMT, Rupert Goodwins
wrote:

Thanks. I didn't get a leaflet with my card (it's an Oyster) and
railcard.co.uk doesn't mention LT Gold Cards. Is it the same as a
Network Railcard?

Sort of, but with a few extra benefits (no Minimum Fare, Child Flat Fare
of £1.00, and First Class upgrades available for £3.00 Adult, £1.50
Child, as opposed to £10 Minimum, 81% Discount (based on the
undiscounted Adult Fare) for Children and no First Class upgrades on
'normal' Network Railcards).

I must say, I find the Gatwick Express/South Central mix confusing.
Especially late on a Saturday night, and *especially* after a long
party in Lewes to celebrate a journalist's 50th birthday.

It does seem rather silly to have a dedicated TOC for a service that
only calls at two stations, but that decision goes back to the days of
BR when GatEx was part of the InterCity Sector.

HTH,

Barry

--
Barry Salter, barry at southie dot me dot uk
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