N ewsrail E X P R E S S WEEK ENDING 3 November 2007 ITEM FOR TRAIN COMPANY ON RETAIL TRAIN TRAVEL ITEM SUBJECT OUTLETS STAFF AGENTS 352 1 National Rail New TOCs and franchise map changes 2 National Rail PLUSBUS wins international award 3 National Rail and Eurostar Through fares to the Continent via Eurostar 4 CrossCountry CrossCountry Franchise 5 East Midlands Trains 6 First Capital Connect Oyster Pay As You Go on First Capital Connect services 7 London Midland New franchise information 8 London Overground 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.
Additional items included with this issue of Newsrail Express Retail Manual Part 2 Issue 207. 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: 0870 850 2149 Fax: 0870 600 5533 e-mail: csatoc@tso.co.uk 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 2007. 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) 100 50 100 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: http://frpp.tso.co.uk 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: www.atoctravelagents.org Retail Communications Manager paul.chilver@atoc.org Tel: 020 7841 8058 2
TO BE READ BY: TRAIN COMPANY RETAIL STAFF ON-TRAIN STAFF TRAVEL AGENTS 1 New TOCs and franchise map changes From 11 November 2007 Arriva, trading as CrossCountry will operate the Cross Country franchise, with services extending across Great Britain from Penzance to Aberdeen, from Cardiff to Stansted Airport and from Manchester to Bournemouth. This new franchise combines most of the services previously operated by Virgin CrossCountry Trains and some services previously operated by Central Trains. Virgin Trains Cross Country services that previously operated between Birmingham and Glasgow via Preston will be transferred and operated by Virgin Trains West Coast. Stagecoach, trading as East Midlands Trains will operate the East Midlands franchise, with services between London, the East Midlands and South Yorkshire, as well as services in central England and between Liverpool and Norwich. This new franchise combines services previously operated by Midland Mainline and some of the services previously operated by Central Trains. GoVia, trading as London Midland will operate the West Midlands franchise, with services between London and Northampton and local and regional services in the West Midlands. This new franchise combines services previously operated by Silverlink County and some of the services previously operated by Central Trains. MTR Laing, trading as London Overground will operate services on the North London Railway under the management of Transport for London. These services were previously operated by Silverlink Metro. All of the above TOCs have submitted an article containing more information inside this edition of Newsrail Express. From 09 December 2007 National Express East Coast will operate the InterCity East Coast franchise, with services between London, Northern England and Scotland via Peterborough, Leeds, Doncaster, York, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness. These services were previously operated by GNER. TransPennine Express will be operating services between Manchester Airport and Glasgow Central/Edinburgh. These services were previously operated by Virgin CrossCountry Trains. From late 2007 From a date as yet unconfirmed, Grand Central will commence regular services between Sunderland and London Kings Cross. They expect to be running an interim service later this month and a full service in December. 3
From spring 2008 From a date yet to be specified during spring 2008, Wrexham & Shropshire will commence regular services from Wrexham and Shropshire to London Marylebone. Retail Communications Manager ATOC TO BE READ BY: TRAIN COMPANY RETAIL STAFF ON-TRAIN STAFF TRAVEL AGENTS 2 PLUSBUS wins international award PLUSBUS has won the IRU Eurochallenge Award 2007, awarded by European senior transport experts, who said that PLUSBUS was innovative, forward-looking and recently achieved a breathtaking sales increase. PLUSBUS is designed to encourage train travellers to use buses for their journeys to/from the station, and is the only national integrated transport scheme of this nature in Europe. It offers an excellent alternative to private car use for door to door journeys, enabling travellers to make a green choice and help the environment. PLUSBUS tickets offer customers discount bus travel prices and unlimited local bus travel around town. PLUSBUS areas have increased by 25% in the last year, and it now covers 227 rail-served towns and cities in Britain, including all with a population of 90,000 people and above (plus many smaller towns). In total, more than 32 million people in Britain now live within a PLUSBUS zone. Numbers of PLUSBUS users are growing rapidly, with almost 65,000 journeys now made with PLUSBUS each month. Recently PLUSBUS ticket sales have increased by 100% compared with sales in 2006. Many thanks to all retail staff for your part in making PLUSBUS such a great award-winning success. For any retail staff who are unsure of how to issue a PLUSBUS ticket, see the RailLinks manual, and recent issues of Newsrail Express. ATOC Retail Support 0207 841 8058 4
TO BE READ BY: TRAIN COMPANY RETAIL STAFF ON-TRAIN STAFF TRAVEL AGENTS 3 Through fares to the Continent via Eurostar On sale from 14 November 2007 On 14 November, Britain s first all-new mainline railway for over 100 years goes into service between London and Paris/Brussels. High Speed 1, as the route is known, runs from the fully restored London St Pancras Station to join up with the Channel Tunnel and the European high speed rail network. The new service brings into reach a whole range of new journey possibilities from Great Britain to Europe that compete well with existing airline schedules, especially given the reduced check-in times and the fact that rail services run from city centre to city centre. As a result, ATOC and a number of train companies have worked with Eurostar to offer through fares from 68 stations in Great Britain (see list overleaf) to Paris, Brussels and 100 other connecting stations in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Through fares will go on sale from Wednesday 14 November 2007. City to city journey times by train will in many cases match or even beat those of taking the plane. Rail travellers will enjoy the time-saving advantages of bypassing journeys to and from out-of-town airports, halfhour check-in (10 minutes for business travellers) for Eurostar services, and avoiding baggage reclaim delays because they will have their luggage with them. Examples of fares and fastest journey times include: Birmingham Brussels / Paris: from 79 return rail journey times between 4h25 and 4h50 Leeds Brussels / Paris: from 79 return rail journey times between 5h05 and 5h35 Manchester Brussels / Paris: from 84 return rail journey times between 5h20 and 5h35 Sheffield Brussels / Paris: from 77 return rail journey times between 5h00 and 5h25 York Brussels / Paris: from 79 return rail journey times between 4h50 and 5h10 BUYING TICKETS Initially, through fares will be available to purchase from Eurostar s Contact Centre on 08705 186 186 From mid-december 2007, it will be possible to purchase through tickets via www.eurostar.com. Through fares will also be available from GNER Telesales on 08457 225 225. Train companies offering the initial through fares will be specifically briefing staff on details of their own offers and customer service issues. The opening of the new line is a big opportunity to promote rail travel and is likely to lead to more enquiries about how the service can be used ALL staff can play a part by assisting customers in where to look for information about the new service. 5
If your station is not amongst the initial 68 stations with through fares, customers can still travel by train to the continent - the Eurostar part of the journey may be booked directly from the Eurostar Contact Centre or website as above, and a suitable connecting ticket purchased from your station to London St Pancras. Further through fares from other National Rail stations will be added during 2008. The 68 stations that initially have through fares via Eurostar to the continent: Aberdeen Bedford Berwick-upon-Tweed Birmingham International Birmingham New Street Cambridge Carlisle Chesterfield Coventry Crewe Darlington Derby Doncaster Dunbar Durham Edinburgh Waverley Ely Glasgow Central Grantham Hatfield Hitchin Hull Huntingdon Kings Lynn Kettering Lancaster Leamington Spa Leeds Leicester Letchworth Garden City Liverpool Lime Street Luton Luton Airport Parkway Macclesfield Manchester Piccadilly Market Harborough Milton Keynes Central Newark Newcastle Northallerton Northampton Nottingham Oxenholme Lake District Penrith Peterborough Preston Retford Royston Rugby Runcorn Selby Sheffield Solihull St Albans Stafford Stockport Stoke-on-Trent Stevenage Wakefield Westgate Warrington Bank Quay Warwick Warwick Parkway Watford Junction Wellingborough Welwyn Garden City Wigan North Western Wolverhampton York If you have any specific enquiries about the new service (rail staff only) please contact Cath Lyver at ATOC on 020 7841 8061, or contact your local retail support office. 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 6
TO BE READ BY: TRAIN COMPANY RETAIL STAFF ON-TRAIN STAFF TRAVEL AGENTS 4 CrossCountry Franchise From 11 November 2007, CrossCountry will be operating the Virgin Cross Country franchise and there will be some amendments and additions to the products being offered under this franchise. Value advance, Advance and former Central Value tickets will continue to be made available. Weekend upgrade will also be available. CrossCountry are currently looking into Group Travel arrangements and will update accordingly with details and contact number for this service. For further information on new franchise see www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk Customer Services 0870 010 0084 7
TO BE READ BY: TRAIN COMPANY RETAIL STAFF ON-TRAIN STAFF TRAVEL AGENTS 5 East Midlands Trains We re delighted to introduce East Midlands Trains, formed from the regional, eastern routes of the Central Trains network and those of the Midland Mainline network. WE WILL OPERATE TWO TYPES OF SERVICES Mainline services High-speed, long-distance services from St Pancras International to Sheffield, Derby and Nottingham, operated by HSTs and class 222 Meridians. Connect services Regional services, between Nottingham and Derby/Lincoln/Cleethorpes/Skegness/Worksop, between Derby and Crewe/Matlock and between Norwich and Liverpool. These will be operated by class 153, 156 and 158s. 8
TIMETABLES We will be printing 4 timetable books: 1. Mainline services: St Pancras International to Leicester, Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield 2. Connect services: Liverpool to Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham and Norwich 3. Connect services: Nottingham to Derby, Nottingham to Worksop, Derby to Matlock, Derby to Crewe via Stoke-on-Trent and Leicester to Lincoln via Nottingham 4. Connect services: Newark to Cleethorpes, Peterborough to Doncaster via Lincoln, Nottingham to Skegness and Lincoln to Leicester via Nottingham. See our new network map for full journey opportunities within the new franchise. SEAT RESERVATIONS East Midlands Trains will offer seat reservations on our Mainline and on some Connect services (Liverpool/Norwich Connect services only). This will be possible when customers buy Standard or First Class tickets, with the exception of season tickets. The facility whereby Midland Mainline season ticket holders can make seat reservations by telephone will be discontinued. FREE TEA & COFFEE East Midlands Trains will continue to offer this to First and Standard class passengers until 8 December 2007. From 9 December 2007 East Midlands Trains will offer complimentary tea and coffee to First Class customers only (this will continue to be served at-seat). Standard Class customers will need to buy tea and coffee from the buffet. TICKETS The full range of tickets will continue to be available until further notice. Contact the Pricing Manager with any questions on 05 62757, or 01332 262757. CONTACTS For ticket sales, Customer Relations and information about our services: call 08457 125 678, or visit eastmidlandstrains.co.uk For information about the franchise itself, email getintouch@eastmidlandstrains.co.uk We would like to welcome our new teams onboard and look forward to taking things forward with you. 9
TO BE READ BY: TRAIN COMPANY RETAIL STAFF ON-TRAIN STAFF TRAVEL AGENTS 6 Oyster Pay As You Go on First Capital Connect services From Sunday 11 November, Oyster Pay As You Go validators will be in operation at West Hampstead Thameslink station. Therefore from 11 November 2007 West Hampstead Thameslink joins the list of First Capital Connect stations between which OYSTER Pay As You Go is valid. Please note that OYSTER Pay As You Go will only be valid on First Capital Connect services between the stations shown on the map below: Larry Heyman Integration and Partnership Manager First Capital Connect Tel: 020 7713 2103 larry.heyman@firstgroup.com www.firstcapitalconnect.co.uk 10
TO BE READ BY: TRAIN COMPANY RETAIL STAFF ON-TRAIN STAFF TRAVEL AGENTS 7 London Midland New Franchise Information On 11 November 2007 Govia will begin operating the new London Midland rail franchise. This new Train Operating Company combines the former West Midlands services of the Central Trains franchise, Silverlink s County services from London Euston to Northampton and their Bedford to Bletchley and Watford to St Albans services. From a retail perspective several gradual changes will be seen in both retailing systems and retail publications in the coming months. Fares/Fares Manuals No changes to fares will take place on 11 November 2007. The alpha code which appears against the flow owner (currently RCL) will become LBR but this change will not take place until 18 May 2008 when the redistribution of fares between the three new TOCs is finalised by the Department for Transport. PWM will remain as the TOC for flows within the Network West Midlands (Centro) area. Central Value Central Value will be changed to state Value Advance as shown below and these tickets will continue to be available for travel on the new franchises services until 17 May 2008. 11
Ticket code Old description New description C1S Central Val1sgl Value Advance C3S Central Val3sgl Value Advance3 C7S Central Val7sgl Value Advance7 The Central Value routed ticket description will change as shown below but due to system constraints these changes will appear in some systems before others. For this reason it is important that ticket inspection staff accept tickets with either route description until changes are made and individual TOC Route Codes are applied. Route Code Current description Amended description 00480 AP CTL TRNS ONLY AP LM EM XC ONLY Tickets issued up to 10th November for travel on or after 11th November will carry the old ticket/route descriptions, so ticket examining staff must accept these tickets as valid on the customer s nominated train regardless of the change of operator. From 11 November former Central Value tickets (where quotas are available) will be available for purchase for travel on services operated by Cross Country, East Midlands Trains, and London Midland and will use the Route LM EM XC ONLY route shown above. Ticket conditions will remain unchanged. All Central Value journeys that currently exist (i.e. routed 00480 AP LM EM XC only) will remain in Ticket Issuing Systems beyond 11 November but will have route codes descriptions amended from 2 January 2008. It has been agreed between the three new TOCs that during the January 2008 fares round Central Trains will create newly routed tickets to replace the existing tickets with a route code specifying the correct TOC for travel from 2 January 2008 i.e. AP EMIDSTRAINS ONLY, ARRIVA XC ONLY and AP LDN MIDLAND ONLY. These new flows will then be end dated 17 May 2008. From 18 May 2008, the three new train companies will then be in a position to take control of these tickets/journeys and amend as they wish. Retail systems Any journey enquiries made in RJIS/ticket issuing systems from 11 November 2007 onwards will show London Midland as the train operator for services currently operated by Central Trains. It will also show the amended Central Value names as mentioned above. Pricing Manager Central Trains Tel: 05 41212 12
TO BE READ BY: TRAIN COMPANY RETAIL STAFF ON-TRAIN STAFF TRAVEL AGENTS 8 London Overground On 11 November 2007 a new rail network branded London Overground will be formed out of the routes that were previously operated by Silverlink Metro. Responsibility for this part of the network will transfer from the Department for Transport to Transport for London (TfL). The services and stations will be operated by London Overground Rail Operations Ltd (LOROL) on TfL s behalf. LOROL is a Train Operating Company like any other, except that it will be operating to a concession agreement with TfL rather than to a franchise agreement managed by the Department for Transport. The London Overground routes will be shown on the Tube map. Passengers will benefit from similar fast, frequent, accessible metro-style services, and safety and security standards. A substantial investment in new trains, stations and additional staff is planned over the coming years, enabling the London Overground to set new standards in urban train travel. Oyster Pay as You Go will be valid across the London Overground network alongside the normal range of National Rail products. 13
LONDON OVERGROUND RAIL OPERATIONS LIMITED (LOROL) ADDRESS AND CONTACT DETAILS London Overground Rail Operations Ltd 125 Finchley Road London NW3 6HY Telephone: 0845 601 4867 (Customer Relations) Website: www.tfl.gov/overground Email: info@lorol.co.uk TICKETS and STATIONS Ticket Vending Machines are available at all London Overground stations. These sell a large range of National Rail products and will allow Oyster card holders to top-up Pay as You Go. Ticket offices are available at the busier stations and all stations will be staffed from 11 November. Passengers will be required to buy a ticket or validate their Oyster card before making a journey on a London Overground service otherwise they could be liable for a 20 Penalty Fare. Oyster cards may be purchased from the ticket offices or online, from https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk LONDON UNDERGROUND As part of the changes to set up the new London Overground network, London Underground will, from 11 November 2007, take over the running of 11 stations which are served jointly by National Rail and Underground train services. These are; Harrow and Wealdstone Kenton South Kenton North Wembley Wembley Central Stonebridge Park Harlesden Kensal Green Queens Park Kew Gardens Gunnersbury Although the day to day running of these stations will be London Underground's responsibility, LOROL will be the lead retailer as defined by the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement. London Underground will operate the tickets offices and other retailing channels at these stations on LOROL s behalf. In addition, the North London Railway platforms at Blackhorse Road, Highbury & Islington and West Brompton stations will transfer to London Underground (the main part of each these stations is already operated by London Underground). 14
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 Assisted Passenger Reservations 350 1 3 Central Trains Summary of Fares Review September 2007 347 5 7 Central Trains Fraudulent use of Rail Warrant Book, Legalshield account number 67997 347 6 9 Central Trains Coleshill Parkway station now open 347 7 10 Central Trains GroupSave (children now included as part of group) 348 6 9 Central Trains Severn Valley Railway suspended) 349 5 7 East Midlands Trains New franchise changes 350 3 5 First Great Western Major amendments to NFM 97 fares 348 7 10 National Rail Discount fares for disabled people who do not hold a Disabled Persons Railcard (reminder) 346 2 4 National Rail Discount fares for disabled people who do not hold a Disabled Persons Railcard (reminder) 347 4 6 National Rail Free prize draw winners 348 4 6 National Rail GroupSave from 9 September 2007 348 1 3 National Rail New RailLinks manual 349 2 4 National Rail Omission from NFM 97 349 3 5 National Rail Reduced fares for wheelchair users and visually impaired people 348 5 8 National Rail Reduced fares for wheelchair users and visually impaired people (reminder) 349 4 6 National Rail Reduced fares for wheelchair users and visually impaired people (reminder) 351 3 5 National Rail Through fares to the Continent via Eurostar 351 1 3 PLUSBUS Say yes to PLUSBUS 346 1 3 PLUSBUS Issuing London PLUSBUS tickets 346 2 4 PLUSBUS Say yes to PLUSBUS 347 3 5 PLUSBUS New PLUSBUS stations from 9 September 2007 348 2 4 PLUSBUS PLUSBUS add-on tickets, new ticket descriptions 348 3 5 PLUSBUS no car, no problem! 349 1 3 PLUSBUS no car, no problem! (reminder) 351 2 4 Railcards Extended validity for Railcard leaflets and posters 347 1 3 Railcards Epic Lookalikes 350 2 4 Raileasy Raileasy 351 4 6 Virgin Trains Ticket validity wording 348 8 10 Virgin Trains Ticket availability and seat reservations 351 5 9 15
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. November to December 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 353 19 November 7 November January update 3 December 14 November 354 3 December 21 November 355 17 December 5 December February update 28 December 5 December 356 28 December 12 December FRPS website The Fares & Retail Publications Service website (operated by TSO) for entering information is https://frps.tso.co.uk 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 www.atoc.org 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 020 7841 8058. Proof checking At the proof check stage, (usually 2-3 days after the submission deadline) contributors will receive an email 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 020 7841 8266 by the deadline shown in the email. 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 www.atoc.org 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 020 7841 8119 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 0870 850 2149 or email 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 0870 873 8722, email 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