N ewsrail. WEEK ENDING 5 May 2007 ITEM FOR TRAIN COMPANY ON RETAIL TRAIN TRAVEL ITEM SUBJECT OUTLETS STAFF AGENTS

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1 N ewsrail E X P R E S S WEEK ENDING 5 May 2007 ITEM FOR TRAIN COMPANY ON RETAIL TRAIN TRAVEL ITEM SUBJECT OUTLETS STAFF AGENTS 1 National Rail New PLUSBUS stations 2 National Rail New Railcard leaflets and posters 3 National Rail Date validation for thermal Railcard stock 4 National Rail Change of address for TOCs returning Railcard application forms 5 National Rail Season Tickets and Rovers 6 Central Trains Summary of Fares Review May Central Trains GroupSave to Skegness 8 Central Trains Derbyshire Wayfarer 9 one one Station Name changes 10 South West Trains New Super Off-Peak Tickets 11 Virgin Trains Virgin Cross Country fares changes and New Forest bus link National Rail information is listed first, followed by Train Company information in alphabetical Train Company order. Further items follow in alphabetical contributor order. * To be read by Retail Staff, On-Train Staff and Travel Agents where appropriate. 339

2 Additional items included with this issue of Newsrail Express Summer Merchandiser If you have not received these additional items or if you need extra copies, please contact: TSO Customer Services, St. Crispins, Duke Street, Norwich, NR3 1PD Tel: Fax: TOCs should inform their Pricing or Retail Manager about any changes to the distribution of publications. New prices for Newsrail Express items and Retail Manual updates from 1 May 2007 There will be new prices for putting news items into Newsrail Express and for updating the Retail Manual from 1 May These prices have been agreed by Ticketing & Settlement Scheme Council and Retail Group. The aim is to partly shift the cost from TOCs submitting items and making changes, to TOCs that still require printed paper copies of Newsrail Express and the Retail Manual. This aims to encourage greater use of electronic communications. New charges for making changes are shown in the following tables. New pages/pages amended Retail Manual Amendment Black & white page cost Colour page cost (fixed basic cost) (per page) (per page) Newsrail Express News item standard fixed cost (however long the news item is) 100 Any remaining production and distribution costs will be charged to TOCs receiving paper copies of Newsrail Express and Retail Manual updates in proportion to the number of copies each TOC requires. Charges will be calculated by RSP. Altering your TOC s requirement for paper copies of Newsrail Express and Retail Manual updates TOCs can reduce production and distribution costs by altering the number of paper copies of Newsrail Express and Retail Manual updates by contacting their Pricing Manager or nominated TOC representative to amend their TOC publications distribution list through the FRPS website. For example, a TOC may decide that it no longer requires paper copies of Newsrail Express and Retail Manual updates, if appropriate staff can access the information electronically. FRPP website an excellent alternative to paper Retail publications information can be accessed electronically via: and includes: Newsrail Express Retail Manual Part One & Part Two National Fares Manuals RailLinks Manual Ticket Examiners Handbook Travel agents have their own ATOC travel agents website at: Retail Communications Manager paul.chilver@atoc.org Tel:

3 1 New PLUSBUS stations from 20 May 2007 PLUSBUS enables customers to add unlimited bus travel around town to their train ticket. PLUSBUS can be added to most types of train ticket: Single, Day Return, Period Return (and to set-period season tickets for selected stations). PLUSBUS tickets can be sold from any National Rail station ticket office, through selected telesales offices or by rail-appointed travel agents. From 20 May, 47 new PLUSBUS stations will be added: Ashford International J142 Guildford J140 Rye J174 Bexhill J168 Harlow J179 Sandwich J165 Birchington-on-Sea J150 Hastings J167 Scarborough J175 Broadstairs J153 Haywards Heath J138 St Leonards Warrior Square J169 Canterbury East J157 Herne Bay J162 Stafford J130 Canterbury West J158 High Wycombe J180 Sturry J159 Chestfield & Swalecliffe J161 Horley J134 Three Bridges J133 Collington J172 Ifield J135 Tonbridge J139 Cooden Beach J173 Kearsney J149 Tunbridge Wells J141 Crawley J131 Margate J152 Walmer J163 Deal J164 Minster J156 West St Leonards J171 Dover Priory J147 Ore J166 Westgate-on-Sea J151 Dumpton Park J154 Prudhoe J129 Whitstable J160 Folkestone Central J144 Ramsgate J155 Windermere J128 Folkestone West J145 Redhill J136 Wye J143 Gatwick Airport J132 Reigate J137 You can find all PLUSBUS information in section B1 of the RailLinks manual, which is available in electronic format on the website in the Marketing and Retail section, or via your usual electronic information source. Don t forget that if you can t find through PLUSBUS fares in ticket issuing systems, you should issue the rail journey ticket and also issue separate PLUSBUS tickets. You can sell PLUSBUS tickets to customers at the same time as they buy their rail ticket, or you can sell PLUSBUS tickets to customers already holding rail tickets, as long as the rail ticket is valid for the PLUSBUS ticket validity date/s requested. PLUSBUS tickets are also valid in conjunction with appropriate rover and ranger-type tickets and rail staff privilege/status passes. ATOC Retail Support

4 2 New Railcard leaflets and posters for Sunday 20 May 2007 EPIC SAVINGS! Epic suggests something big and momentous. It also makes people think of adventure and travel. We are starting an exciting new campaign to promote Railcards and it is being launched May 20. All three national Railcards (Young Persons, Senior and Family Railcard) will follow this new, fresh theme. The new campaign is EPIC SAVINGS, and this year the new leaflets and posters will be designed like epic film posters. Deliveries of Railcard posters and leaflets should reach your station in the week before Sunday 20 May. If you do not receive Railcard leaflets and posters in time, please check with your hub station or central delivery point. It is important that all other Young Persons, Senior and Family Railcard leaflets and posters are destroyed and replaced with the new ones. Not only does this mean a fresh change to promote Railcards at your station but the new material includes the latest information for customers. The leaflets contain the current application form as well as terms and conditions, which must be signed by the customer. Please make sure that all new leaflets and posters are displayed in stations for 20 May to give maximum impact for EPIC SAVINGS We have included the latest merchandiser with this issue of Newsrail Express. This clearly shows you which Railcard leaflets and posters are to be displayed from 20 May, and which need to be removed. Railcard Marketing Newsrail Express for train company National Rail information over 7,000 copies printed fortnightly 3,000 stations, travel agents and call centres receive Newsrail Express Estimated readership of 15,000 retail staff 4

5 3 Date validation for thermal Railcard stock To be noted by all retail and revenue protection staff ISSUE: SOLUTION: FUTURE: The ink from date stamps smudges or gets rubbed off thermal ticket stock (for example, where Railcards are issued in bulk by councils) 1. Indelible pens are being supplied (via BemroseBooth) to councils and other bodies that issue Railcards in bulk so that the dates can be written by hand. 2. Hand written dates must follow a specific format which is DDMMMYYYY i. Dates between 1 and 9 must be written 01 to 09 ii. The three letter month code follows the railway style: January = JNR February = FBY March = MCH April = APR May = MAY June = JUN July = JLY August = AUG September = SEP October = OCT November = NOV December = DMR iii. The year must be four figures, i.e We are looking for a more satisfactory solution to deal with this problem and will contact you to let you know of any progress Railcard Marketing Newsrail Express for train company National Rail information over 7,000 copies printed fortnightly 3,000 stations, travel agents and call centres receive Newsrail Express Estimated readership of 15,000 retail staff 5

6 4 Change of address for TOCs returning Railcard application forms Please note the change in address for TOCs returning all Family, Senior, Young Persons and Network Railcard application forms (including telesales application forms): Stations and Telesales (new address) Railcard Application Service, ATOS Origin, PO BOX 5332, Beeston NG9 1LA Only the Railcard forms listed above should be returned to this address. Other applications (e.g. for Season Tickets or local Railcards) should be returned to your Train Company application collection point. Travel Agents (no change) Travel Trade Service, PO Box 177, Stevenage, SG1 2YW Full instructions for submitting completed Railcard applications forms are shown in section A of the Retail Manual Part Two. Railcard Marketing TO BE READ BY: 5 Season Tickets and Rovers Please remember that for some journeys, particularly where customers request tickets for a series of journeys, it may be that the most appropriate ticket for the customer is a Season Ticket or Rover (Rover details in NFM section G). ATOC Retail Support

7 6 Central Trains Summary of Fares Review May 2007 Please find below details of pricing/ticketing changes that will take effect from 20 May There will be no blanket fares increases applicable to Centro or Central Trains fares. Removal of fares routed Direct Central Trains along with the rail industry in general will withdraw all journeys shown as being Route Direct. This is because Route Direct fares contained within the fares database cause confusion for staff, customers and journey information systems alike. They will be replaced with routes with more meaningful descriptors that can be interpreted by electronic retail/information systems. These changes will benefit customers and retail staff alike. Most of the Central Trains direct journeys were based on the West Coast Mainline on the outskirts of the West Midlands so the direct fares have been transferred to new Not Birmingham routes and new Any Permitted journeys have been created priced via Birmingham. Centro (West Midlands PTE) Fares anomalies with some Cheap Day Return fares being less than Standard Day Single fares have now been corrected. All Network West Midlands First Class fares have now been standardised and are now priced on a formula so that the first class fare is based on the equivalent standard fare multiplied by 1.5. Other amendments: Stamford Oakham To remove an anomaly the above SDR fare has been reduced from to 7.70 from May Cambridge Birmingham International The Cheap Day ticket to Birmingham International has been withdrawn to remove a long standing anomaly whereby customers could book to this station but travel only to Birmingham New Street. Severn Valley Railway (Bridgnorth SVR-L830) The child add-on rate has been increased from 4.70 to 4.75 so it is now half the rate of the adult add-on price. Central Value 7: Cheltenham Newport To correct an anomaly the CV7 fare has been reduced from 6 to 5. Pricing Manager Central Trains Tel: Newsrail Express for train company National Rail information over 7,000 copies printed fortnightly 3,000 stations, travel agents and call centres receive Newsrail Express Estimated readership of 15,000 retail staff 7

8 7 Central Trains GroupSave to Skegness Summer Fridays and Saturdays 2007 Note that GroupSave tickets will not be available for travel to Skegness on Fridays or Saturdays during the Summer between Friday 25 / Saturday 26 May until Friday 7 / Saturday 8 September 2007 inclusive and must not be sold to any customers. This applies to all journeys to Skegness priced by Central Trains (Coded RCL in the National Fares Manual) Please note this is a change from previous years restrictions. GroupSave is a discount applied to Cheap Day Return and Saver tickets. Pricing and Reservations Analyst Central Trains Tel: TO BE READ BY: Derbyshire Wayfarer New Prices from 20 May 2007 The following new prices for Derbyshire Wayfarer take effect from 20 May The price changes have been agreed in conjunction with Derbyshire County Council, local bus operators and rail companies concerned: Purchased within Derbyshire Adult 8.30 Child 4.15 Group Purchased from Nottingham or Beeston Adult Child 5.35 Group N/A Pricing Manager Central Trains Tel:

9 9 one Station Name changes From Sunday 20 May, one is changing the name of six of its stations as follows: Current Name New name NLC code Clacton Clacton-on-Sea 6850 Frinton Frinton-on-Sea 6854 Walton-on-Naze Walton-on-the-Naze 6858 Woodham Ferrers South Woodham Ferrers 6892 Fambridge North Fambridge 6875 Whittlesford Whittlesford Parkway 7047 Why are we making these changes? The changes are being made to reflect more accurately the local geographical designation, with the exception of Whittlesford which is being renamed for marketing purposes. one Fares and Pricing Team / / Newsrail Express for train company National Rail information over 7,000 copies printed fortnightly 3,000 stations, travel agents and call centres receive Newsrail Express Estimated readership of 15,000 retail staff 9

10 10 New Super Off-Peak Tickets from 20 May 2007 South West Trains are introducing 2 new Standard Class off-peak products from 20 May 2007, the Super Off-Peak Day Return and the Super Off-Peak Day Travelcard. These will only be available for selected journeys to and towards London and will appear in Section C of the National Fares Manual as ticket types SC & ST respectively. These tickets are valid for travel later in the day than the Cheap Day Return & Off-Peak Day Travelcard on Mondays to Fridays and will become the off-peak day return issued by all out-boundary SWT stations at weekends and on Bank Holidays, where the ticket type exists. There are no evening peak time restrictions on the use of these tickets for return journeys out of London, excepting those that apply to Cheap Day Returns and Off-Peak Day Travelcards for travel out of London Paddington (Mondays to Fridays only). Section E of the NFM has been updated to provide information on the validity codes used in respect of these tickets. An extract of the relevant page is re-produced below, for ease of reference. Ticket Issuing Systems have been updated to reflect the services on which these tickets are valid. In general terms no easements apply to these validity codes, but an exception has been made for the 0825 Exeter St David s to London Waterloo service between stations Exeter St David s and Crewkerne inclusive. All the standard child, railcard and GroupSave discounts apply to these tickets and Section F of the NFM has been updated to reflect this. Please note that these tickets will not be available for journeys wholly internal to the London Fare Zones Area, where the standard range of London Zonal Fares apply. Staff are asked to familiarise themselves with these products prior to 20 May. SCO SUPER OFF PEAK DAY RETURN STO SUPER OFF PEAK DAY TRAVELCARD Ticket Outward Validity Return Validity Break of Journey Ticket Single or Code Class Return Day Time Day Time Out Return SCO Standard Return Date on ticket see below Date on ticket see below Yes Yes STO Standard Return Date on ticket see below Date on ticket see below Yes Yes Ticket Pre-booking Reservations Discounts Code requirement compulsory Child Railcard Group Refunds SCO None No Yes Yes Yes Retail Manual Part One STO None No Yes Yes Yes Retail Manual Part One Super Off Peak Day Return: Valid for travel on the date shown on the ticket and until 0230 the following day. If it is not possible to complete the journey before this time, travel is allowed until 1200 the day after travel but no further break of journey is allowed. Super Off Peak Day Travelcard: Valid for travel throughout the selected Travelcard Zones as described in the validity code on the date shown on the ticket and for any journey that starts before 0430 on the following day. Tickets may not be used Monday to Friday on the following departures: From From London London Paddington Reading Final Destination of service Paddington Reading Final Destination of service Taunton [TAU] Cheltenham Spa [CNM] Penzance [PNZ] Worcester Shrub Hill [WOS] Swansea [SWA] Taunton [TAU] Oxford [OXF] Penzance [PNZ] Bristol Temple Meads [BRI] Frome [FRO] Exeter St David's [EXD] Swansea [SWA] Swansea [SWA] Hereford [HFD] Oxford [OXF] Bristol Temple Meads [BRI] 1700 Weston-super-Mare [WSM] 1833 (A) 1903 Exeter St Davids [EXD] Penzance [PNZ] 1836 (B) 1903 Exeter St Davids [EXD] Westbury [WSB] Swansea [SWA] Swansea [SWA] Cheltenham Spa [CNM] Hereford [HFD] Oxford [OXF] Bristol Temple Meads [BRI] Note (A) From 2 July to 31 August Paignton [PGN] Note (B) From 21 May to 29 June Carmarthen [CMN] and from 3 September to 7 December

11 Occasionally the departure time or final destination of these services can change due to engineering work. In that case, the restriction also applies to the equivalent services. Validity Outward Travel Return Travel Code BD By any train except those timed to depart Mondays-Fridays before By any train Validity Outward Travel Return Travel Code BE By any train except those scheduled to arrive at London Terminals or Kensington Olympia Mondays-Fridays before 1200 and connecting trains. By any train SWT Pricing Manager Newsrail Express for train company National Rail information over 7,000 copies printed fortnightly 3,000 stations, travel agents and call centres receive Newsrail Express Estimated readership of 15,000 retail staff 11

12 11 Virgin Cross Country fares changes and New Forest bus link Deletion of Apex, SuperAdvance and SuperSaver Tickets: As part of a review of our pricing, Virgin Cross Country will no longer offer Apex or SuperAdvance tickets from 20 May This has allowed for a reduction in the number of ticket types and should ensure that customers able to obtain the best price for each leg of a return journey. To compensate for this we have made Value Advance fares available for travel to and from more locations across the rail network, including North Berwick and Hull. Customers looking to purchase Apex and SuperAdvance tickets should be advised to purchase Value Advance tickets instead. Please ensure that customers are aware that Value Advance tickets are non-refundable unlike the previous Apex and SuperAdvance fares. Additionally as part of the review, Supersaver tickets have also been deleted, although Saver fares exist on all flows affected. Amendment to Standard Class Value Advance Tickets routing: From 20 May, all Standard Class Value Advance fares priced by Virgin Cross Country now use one of two route codes either Virgin XC Only or VXC & Connections, however some flows will have both routes available. This change means that Value Advance fares for travel with operators other than Virgin no longer have geographical routing and has been made to prevent ambiguity in the route definitions and offer more journey opportunities to passengers. New Forest Bus Link: From 26 May 2007 until 2 September 2007, rail passengers will be able to explore the delights of the New Forest with this open top bus tour that calls right outside Brockenhurst station, providing great connections with Virgin Cross Country and South West Trains services. The service can also carry bikes and runs between Lyndhurst- Brockenhurst-Beaulieu-Lymington with connections to the Beaulieu motor museum, Exbury gardens and historic Hythe, linking to the Hythe/Southampton ferry service. The service runs daily throughout period of operation to an hourly-looped service. The first bus leaves Brockenhurst at 10.27, with further services at xx.27 minutes past the hour until Unfortunately through fares are not available from the National Rail network and this product has been setup as a standalone product. Customers can purchase their ticket for the bus service at all outlets selling rail tickets. To issue a ticket for the bus tour, a Bus Day single ticket should be issued with Brockenhurst as the origin and New Forest Bus as the destination. The ticket can be used for one round trip on the tour bus, on the date specified on the ticket. The fares for the bus tour are detailed below: Adult 9 Child 4.50 (Please note that Railcard discounts will not apply) Additionally a family ticket allowing up to 2 Adults plus 2 Children to travel is available on the day of travel for 22.50, however this can only be purchased on the bus and cannot be issued through rail outlets. Virgin Train Retail Support: / Please note these numbers are for booking office and travel agent staff only.they are NOT to be given to the general public. Customers should be directed to contact National Rail Enquiries on

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15 INDEX This index covers items from the last six issues of Newsrail Express. Amendments to Fares Manuals and associated Publications are excluded. ITEM (in alphabetical TOC order) NEWSRAIL EXPRESS No. ITEM No. PAGE No. ATOC Ordering station literature and posters notice of change of supplier (updated) ATOC Euro Domino passes Central Trains Charnwood Borough Council new Concessionary Fares Scheme First Great Western Changes to High Speed Train (HST) reservations on First Great Western National Rail Easy guide to issuing PlusBus (reminder) National Rail Introduction of Visitor Oyster card National Rail Daily Mail Ideal Home Show National Rail Disabled persons without Railcards National Rail Free travel for accompanied children aged under 11 within the London fares zone area PlusBus Go green, Go Plusbus PlusBus Go green, Go Plusbus PlusBus Make sure you know how to issue PlusBus Railcards Family Railcard trial promotion Railcards Railcard application forms Railcards Railcard application forms Silverlink & Virgin Trains Changes to Silverlink and Virgin services over Easter Silverlink & Virgin Trains Changes to Silverlink and Virgin services over Easter Virgin Trains Virgin West Coast fare corrections

16 Retail Communication Deadlines Would TOC and ATOC information providers please note the following deadlines for content submission, through FRPS, for Newsrail Express items and updates to your sections in Retail Manual Part Two (also reflected in Rail Directory for Travel Agents Part One). Submissions can be made up until 23:59 on the date shown. The Rail Directory for Travel Agents Part One is provided to travel agents in electronic format only and mirrors the information submitted to the Retail Manual Part Two. May to November 2007 Newsrail Express Retail Manual Delivery date at retail locations Deadline for submission issue number Part Two (may vary by 2 days either side) by information providers is 23:59 on the dates below June update 21 May CLOSED May 9 May June 22 May July update 18 June 30 May June 6 June July 20 June August update 16 July 27 June July 4 July July 18 July September update 13 August 25 July August 1 August August 14 August October update 10 September 21 August September 29 August September 12 September November update 8 October 19 September October 26 September October 10 October December update 5 November 17 October November 24 October FRPS website The Fares & Retail Publications Service website (operated by TSO) for entering information is Each TOC and ATOC have designated information providers with password access to contribute Newsrail Express items and Retail Manual Part Two updates. Guidance and cue cards Guidance on how to use the system is available from in the Marketing and Retail > FRPS (Fares & Retail Publications Service) section. For additional editorial guidance contact Paul Chilver at ATOC Editorial on paul.chilver@atoc.org or telephone Proof checking At the proof check stage, (usually 2-3 days after the submission deadline) contributors will receive an from TSO which states what the time deadline is for checking your proof. This then normally gives you one working day to check the proof and you should advise of any alterations required or supply sign-off to Paul Chilver at ATOC Editorial, fax by the deadline shown in the . Further information and prices Further information and full pricing details for contributing news items and updates is shown in the inside cover of this edition or available from in the Marketing and Retail > FRPS (Fares & Retail Publications Service) section. Note that prices are higher for colour and laminated pages where required. For invoice enquiries please contact Andrew Tolley at RSP on andrew.tolley@atoc.org or tel Publication supplies, distribution and technical support The TSO helpline for publication supplies (if you want to buy extra copies of manuals), distribution queries (if you do not receive the information that you were expecting) and technical support is or csatoc@tso.co.uk. If you simply wish to make a change to the distribution database then please contact your TOC s Retail or Pricing Manager (for non-tocs please contact paul.chilver@atoc.org). Inserts and merchandisers If you wish to send out any separate inserts (such as leaflets and merchandisers) within the Newsrail Express distribution package (either distribution of your pre-printed material or a full print and distribution service) please arrange this direct with TSO tel , csatoc@tso.co.uk to discuss details of costs and timescales. Please ensure that you contact TSO at least 7 days in advance of the submission deadline date shown above. Retail Manual Part One, Rail Directory for Travel Agents Part Two, Ticket Examiners Handbook If you want any changes made to Retail Manual Part One, Rail Directory for Travel Agents Part Two and Ticket Examiners Handbook, please contact ATOC Editorial on mark.bryce@atoc.org. working together for Great Britain s National Rail companies ASSOCIATION of TRAIN OPERATING COMPANIES Printed by The Stationery Office Limited (TSO) St. Crispins Duke Street Norwich NR3 1PD Copyright Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) 2000