Train tickets rant

[andygates]

Go on, visit your favourite train ticket site and book some tix with bike reservations*.  I'll give you a prize if you get anything better than a vexing user-interface fail ("you must reserve bike space at the same time as seats, and you already did that" it says after auto-reserving seats) or some platitudinous waffle about how green and lovely folding bikes are.

I don't care how lovely folding bikes are; I don't give a howling damn about your environmental credentials.  I want to buy a train ticket: You've made the sale already, stop waffling and frakking CLOSE THE DEAL.  Folding bikes are small enough to be luggage exactly to get around the staggering failgasm that is the British rail network's ability to handle a bicycle.  

Damned if I'm doing the Dumb Run on the Brompton, anyway.  I'm mad, but not that mad.  

I'll go and see the nice, helpful human again.  You'd think I would learn, but somehow my pattern-matchng fails at train tickets.  "Ooh, I'll just see if Trainline doesn't suck yet.... rargh! RARGH! HULK SMASH!"  It's hell on crockery and shirts. 



* Smug euros need not apply.  

Comments

[skean.livejournal.com]

Don't use Trainline or RailEasy, they charge 2 GBP per booking!

[andygates.livejournal.com]

Insult, yea, added unto injury.

[skean.livejournal.com]

On a very slightly related topic, don't suppose you're anywhere near Southampton before Burnham are you? Need to get my green machine from there to Bristol to do the Burnham Tri on...

[jonnycowbells.livejournal.com]

Trainline got bought out by an equity group a while back (couple of years?) and since then it's been a crock of shite. Avoid.

[ladyjulian.livejournal.com]

Virgin were quite good about us turning up with a penny farthing and a Yuba Mundo (on virtuously booked cycle reservations). Even though getting the bloody cycle reservation meant actually going to the station, which completely negates the point of online booking.