Not always accurate (thetrainline.com)

Member Name: pussycat

Product:	thetrainline.com
Date:	14/07/00 (16 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Convenient, handy for checking journey times and prices

Disadvantages: Not always accurage

At first I thought that this website was an excellent way to sort out travel arrangements but recent experience has proved me wrong. I appreciate that there must be an immense combinations of ways to get between two places but why does the trainline not tell you the quickest, easiest or, more importantly, the cheapest route. I recently booked a journey for my husband and relied upon the trainline information but a porter told him that if he changed at a different station he would save twenty five minutes (on a 80 minute journey). The cost was not different - it was just a matter of changing in a different place and picking up an earlier connection. Worse than this, if I have to go to London, I try to book seven days in advance to take advantage of the Virgin advance booking discount (this makes the journey £26 instead of over £100 so you can see why it matters!) As there are only a limited amount of discount places on each journey, the dates you want are not always available. According to trainline, I couldn't have a reduced price ticket for three and a half months (!) but when I telephoned the railtrack ticket line they found me one within two weeks. This has now happened twice so it seems to me that the trainline, however convenient, may not always have the most accurate information or the most comprehensive coverage of routes and ticket availability.

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