North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion

I would agree especially regarding Clause 55. If I had a Pickering to Whitby or vv and it was late (the 45 minute "argument" may or may not apply) I believe the 2015 Act allows me to demand the service is performed again. So to me that is a one way free ticket on a different day, where from the railways perspective they must hope it will be on time, or I would ask again. That would to me be worth far more than DR.
Perhaps something to remember for next time I visit.

 

As confirmed previously the NYMR T&C ‘s have included those provisions for many years. In practice disrguntled passengers are usually mollified if treated with courtesy and consideration. I can’t speak for other railways only surmise that updating their terms and conditions to reflect changes in the law may not be high on their agenda…..all the more so if there is historic resistance to the idea of any compensation.

 

I am making no observation on that - merely as to which piece of legislation applies, and the room for differences in interpretation. "Delay Repay", as such, is not a pre-requisite of the legislation - hence my point regarding what it means to fulfil the contract.

However, if I turned up at the Little Snoring Light Railway at 11:00 as part of a pre-booked day out, and it had advertised a train running at 11:15, but on the day had gone "well, no volunteers this morning so we won't start till 2pm", I might be a bit peeved, and I might look at the Consumer Rights Act give that I'd have gone out of my way to do something they'd promised but not delivered upon.

To that extent, @Lineisclear and his critics are both correct - this isn't something that can just be ignored, and does need to be taken seriously. The question is how to go about it, and how to manage the commercial risk appropriately. It's there, though I recognise value in the technique, that I'm not convinced that NYMR have found the right balance - and in doing so may have set a precedent that their fellow heritage railways may regret.

 

Better dust off that chequebook

 

What went wrong?

 

Dunno what went wrong but 1T14 arriving at Whitby 19 minutes late at 14.50 wouldn’t have allowed sufficient time to run round and get back to Grosmont before 2N28 would have arrived at Glaisdale and wanting the Glaisdale-Whitby token so was obviously held until the Northern service had been and gone.

 

Correct. 14.40 to Goathland locked in at Whitby due to late running, so Auto train subsequently ran in its path between Grosmont and Goathland and 1T18 back to Grosmont

 

Why was 1T14 so late (29 down) into Whitby?

 

Details of 2025 fares now published.
https://www.nymr.co.uk/pages/category/book-tickets
key headlines, in additional to that already posted here is that
- one stop fare is £15, single one stop £12
- two stop £25
- 12 month travel pass available for £200

 

Duplicate

 

So an annual pass is £180 ignoring the rancid drinks voucher option.
Is it £90 for members ?
Looks as close as likely to get an admission that they got 2024 fares badly wrong to me ….

 

No members discount on Annual Pass as detailed on the Join our Membership page on website


Recognition of your Support
In recognition of your support we make available certain benefits which currently are:

• Preserving one of the world's greatest heritage railways
• A vote on resolutions at our Annual General Meeting
• A quarterly publication of Moors Line magazine which keeps you up to date with what’s going on at the NYMR
• Free Travel for your canine friend and/or cycle
• Travel benefits – currently 50% off daily travel services except as follows:

‣ Already discounted tickets and the Annual Pass ticket.
‣ First Class travel upgrades
‣ Pullman and other special on-board catering services
‣ All Special Events already discounted tickets e.g. Steam Gala special discounted tickets

 

Wow!! So £49.50 becomes £180.00 and looking at the now overly complex fares page, how many members of the public will just not bother.

 

£49.50 for a year was always artificially low - but this raise demonstrates the gap and exposes the railway to the charge of raising fares.

Personally, I think the problem is not the annual pass (which is IMHO reasonable value), but the basic pricing - which is too far into luxury treat rather than day out territory.

It would be very interesting to see how both income and visitor numbers respond, especially with the complexity of the “donation price”.

As an aside, I know that 15% of £49.50 is £8.18, but couldn’t someone have applied some gentle rounding to make the vouchers not look so prettily precise? A table like that sends a powerful subliminal message about the organisation, and it’s not one that appeals.

 

I had a look at the bookings page and it took me a while to work things out. That might just be because I’m a simple chap but there are a lot of us out there.

 

Yep, £90 for members standard fare for Travel Pass and £100 for member donation.

 

I tend to agree that something that is a) about 3 .5 return trips worth for a year & b) not that far out of line with other lines that do an annual pass is not unreasonable. I echo your comments on the day fare though.
I do not normally look at Tripadvisor reviews but glanced yesterday a those for the NYMR. Great percentage were 5 star, but some that were not implied the annual pass was not worth it s they were only there for a week. Which implied to me it was not made clear you were not really paying extra for it.
The two most recent reviews were "less supportive" shall we say.

 

If the trains are full then I guess the price isn’t too high.
The counter argument is that my sister and family stayed in Pickering last Summer and planned to take the train to Whitby but saw the price and took the car instead. They will go as a family a couple of times a year to a preserved line as the little boys like steam trains. Looking at their local lines a family of 4 all day ticket at Bluebell is £56 and KESR is £59 so I can see their point when the NYMR is almost double what they would expect to pay. I do wonder how many other potential passengers are put off by the pricing on the NYMR.

 

The £40 ticket in 2023 is now £49.50. An increase of almost 25%.

Is the family ticket available for parents with one child?
The member benefits state the Annual Pass is not reduced by 50%.

 

If the trains are full length, and all available paths are used, I agree.