My letter to National Rail

The following is the letter which I have just emailed to the customer relations people at National Rail. It may come across as a tad sarcastic. Let’s see if I get a response. J

Dear British Rail, National Rail, British Snail or whatever you are now called.

I would like a logical explanation as to why we can’t buy a monthly or weekly rail ticket before midday if the dates don’t run consecutively? This means that if our ticket ends on a Friday we either wait until Sunday afternoon to buy another ticket or waste two days when we know we are not going to be travelling.

The staff at Woking station have explained that “the machines will not allow them to sell the tickets before midday”. I am a little surprised that this is a reason given as a human being made the decision to program the machine to do this. The ticket machines do not think for themselves!!! They are not a C3PO/ R2D2 hybrid; they are pre-programmed ticket machines.

I can buy a single ticket for next week, next month or a day in July so the “ticket machines” are well aware there is a future; they have not got goldfish in a bowl, short memory syndrome. Someone, somewhere made the decision to penalise weekly and monthly ticket holders, I am not sure why because we suffer enough travelling by train.

I would also like to draw your attention to the ridiculous decision to shorten the Guildford to Woking six pm train from ten carriages to five. (As confirmed by a member of your train crew) This is a very busy train and I object to playing “sardines” with a bunch of smelly, grumpy strangers. This is not my idea of a fun way to end my working day.

Not only is every seat taken but there are passengers in the aisles and stuffed into the areas between the seating sections like a dangerous game of “how many idiots can you get in a mini” played forcibly by your passengers.

I would be very interested in getting a response to my questions.

Regards

Sara Williams