Re: Charlbury Station ticket office

Thu 20 Oct 2022, 14:40

Thank you Christine. I will try and contact the family

Mon 17 Oct 2022, 19:44

Deborah, There was a news item here: https://www.charlbury.info/news/3880

I believe John used to be the very popular landlord of the Woodman Arms, North Leigh (2008 - 2015, now The Woodman, I think). His funeral was in North Leigh. Those linked to Cafe de la Poste probably know more: https://cafedelapost.com/in-memory-of-michael-john-birch/

Mon 17 Oct 2022, 17:00

I was sad to see that the man who ran the ticket office has died. Does anyone know his name and family contact details? He was always so helpful and courteous. It would be nice to acknowledge his long service to Charlbury passengers in some way. 

Fri 14 Oct 2022, 12:48

I second Trainsplit.  It has saved me a fortune over the years.

Fri 14 Oct 2022, 12:04

Flippin' 'eck Richard!

Are you a "commercial traveller?!"

Fri 14 Oct 2022, 09:49

Trainsplit is the original and has a mobile app: https://www-new.trainsplit.com

After a while you learn the useful splits from Charlbury – I split at Reading for London fairly often, and at Worcester for Birmingham.

Fri 14 Oct 2022, 09:05

There are several web based alternatives to trainline for split fares and depending on the ticket chosen it maybe a cheaper option. 

Thu 13 Oct 2022, 21:31

The trainline app (but only the app, not the website for some reason) will give you split ticket options to save money, so might be worth the booking fee. I would guess the train operators’ own apps wouldn’t do that although I’ve not used them myself.

Wed 12 Oct 2022, 21:55 (last edited on Wed 12 Oct 2022, 22:56)

It was indeed Matt. I nearly fell backwards! Closed again today (Wednesday) sadly

Tue 11 Oct 2022, 14:23

Pleased ticket office was open, Stephen, but for those wanting an free alternative to the buggy GWR app, it's worth trying other train companies' apps. The Chiltern android app seems to work OK for me, at least for straightforward journeys, and it sends an e-ticket through and reserves seats, also for GWR routes.

The Trainline app is also OK, but involves a small booking fee (up to £1.75), so it's worth trying other alternatives. MoneySavingExpert lists quite a few.

NB until 30 November (extended from 30 September), it's possible to change the time and date of your ticket up to 6pm the day before travel, for free. The usual £10 admin fee will be waived, though you'll have to pay for any difference in fares.

Tue 11 Oct 2022, 10:22

Thanks! Rail Vouchers successfully used to buy a ticket for tomorrow.

Tue 11 Oct 2022, 08:55

It was open this morning!

Tue 11 Oct 2022, 08:04

Thanks, I have paper rail vouchers to use to buy a ticket, so if it is closed, I will just have to hope they will be accepted on the train.

Tue 11 Oct 2022, 06:56

Unfortunately the gentleman who ran the ticket office along with a lady passed away in the summer.  So the few times I have been down there the lady was trying to do a few hours a week but maybe she has stopped that?  I know it is not ideal but probably best to either get the Trainline app on your phone or book on line and download the tickets.  

Mon 10 Oct 2022, 19:56 (last edited on Mon 10 Oct 2022, 20:01)

You could try calling GWR but unless they've found someone to do the job probably not. It probably suits them as a good cost cutting exercise as you can probably still buy a ticket on the train if you can't be bothered to faff around with the app! Assuming they are not all on strike again! 

Mon 10 Oct 2022, 17:29

Anyone know if the ticket office is open any day this week?

Wed 5 Oct 2022, 17:08 (last edited on Wed 5 Oct 2022, 17:11)

I get my tickets through the GWR app on my phone. I sometimes have minor inconvenience at ticket barriers, but it seems to work well.

Wed 5 Oct 2022, 09:20

Getting dangerously close to debate here!  All I'd say is, when 46,000 people vote - yes, vote - to go on strike and presumably lose pay in the process, surely something wrong in the state of Denmark?

Wed 5 Oct 2022, 07:05 (last edited on Wed 5 Oct 2022, 08:24)

What a farce Matt.

The next 4 days are strike days, starting today so the chances are nobody will be needing either as the rest of this week is concerned!

I’m no economist, but even I can see that the money the train companies will lose through strikes is not going to do much to help inflation is it? It’s a vicious circle. I wonder how many of the strikers actually want to strike and how many just got sucked in. They always say it is done as a last resort, but is it? 

Tue 4 Oct 2022, 10:30

Closed ticket office, broken ticket machine, no on-board ticket sales. They're not doing very well at the moment.

Tue 4 Oct 2022, 02:57

4 days of rail strikes this week - not good, is it?

Weds, Thurs, Fri and Sat. A 4-day holiday while the rest of us have to find alternative ways of getting to work.  

Fri 30 Sep 2022, 22:44

I've just had an email come through GWR have finally seen sense and approved last Friday's 2 hour late train! I pursued this as a matter of principle! 

Fri 30 Sep 2022, 22:39

https://www.gwr.com/strike

Fri 30 Sep 2022, 22:10

What disgusts me is that the 18:48 was over 2 hours late last Friday and they are refusing to pay Delay Repay compensation as each time they crept up the lateness I was so sick  and annoyed with being inconvenienced that I kept creating more Delay Repay claims as there is no way to edit the delay time on the GWR app once submitted! So the system shut it down as fraudulent. I rang their Customer Liaisons Team (posh way of saying Customer Services)  last Sunday and explained the situation and the guy put through a manual claim. 

They had been cancelling trains all week owing to overhanging wire - the 10.11 on Tuesday (from memory) and 11:11 on Wednesday or Thursday (I forget - it all blurs into one in the end! ) so I had lost considerable pay and been inconvenienced (not to mention the stress)  on numerous occasions. Friday was the final straw. Maybe the manual claim will come good - apparently it can take a month for them to process - om between all the strikes I imagine! Any sympathy I had with their strike is long gone.

The only people that  are likely to care now are people that use the train once a year! If someone wants to pay me to drive a train on £60k a year I would take it even if it meant working weekends! This is the 21st century! And 25% less people are travelling as they can work from home and not have to go through all this hassle!  

Fri 30 Sep 2022, 14:35

Worth it though.....

Fri 30 Sep 2022, 14:11

It's a lot further to walk, Katie

Fri 30 Sep 2022, 09:46

Oxford Parkway.........

Thu 29 Sep 2022, 21:22

GWR aren't capable of running on time. Wednesday the 12.12 was over half an hour late. The ticket machine was broken and the booking office closed. If they close the booking office permanently, it will cause more problems as the ticket machine is not always working and you have to take a photo to show some train managers your not fare dodging. When it is working its hard to see the screen.

Thu 29 Sep 2022, 17:21

With GWR strikes announced for Saturday 1, Wednesday 5, Thursday 6, Friday 7 and Saturday 8 October there won’t be many days anyone can travel!

Thu 29 Sep 2022, 12:51

I spoke to the lady in the ticket office several weeks ago who mentioned that the plan is to eventually close the ticket office.  Maybe she has left and found another job .

Thu 29 Sep 2022, 10:05

I've had a response from GWR that they haven't found a suitable applicant for the station vacancy,  "so the best we can provide at present is one (possibly two) days each week.

I am hopeful that I can free up a member of staff from elsewhere next month to provide more cover."

Thu 29 Sep 2022, 09:39

The ticket office was open today! Which was good, because the machine is broken.

Thu 29 Sep 2022, 08:57

I'll ask GWR what is going on.  For a while they were almost good at providing information as to when it will be open.

Wed 28 Sep 2022, 11:27

You can only buy one ticket at a time via the app so I start to lose the Will to live! 

Wed 28 Sep 2022, 11:26

Have they given up?  I’ve not seen anyone in there for weeks? Just the vending machine which only enables you to buy for travel that day and normally has a long queue before getting the train, It seems the future is automation, sadly.