Llandudno railway station

[Cambrian]

In the past when doing long journeys to the south, I have found the Wales Explorer Pass to be very good value for money.  It is valid for 8 days and available for all 8 on buses at any time.  For 4 of the days you can use it on trains as well but only after 0915 Mon - Fri so you can have the odd day out to Chester or Shrewsbury as well.  It costs around £89 but also has the usual discount for various card holders.

[Llechwedd]

Went to the station yesterday to make an enquiry and the booking office was closed and locked uop at 2.40p.m.   Complained today to anice man who knows what he is doing.  Nuff said?

[Cambrian]

Llandudno station is only a one turn station so the hours open will fit around a 37 hour week for one person plus a rest day. Very roughly that is just over 7 hours a day.  I expect most of their business is conducted between 0830 and 1500 which is why the office is open usually between those times.

Many years ago I think it had an early turn clerk and another on lates but these days I suppose we should be thankful we do have one person there as many stations now have no staff at all.

[Llechwedd]

The station is supposed to be open from 8a.am. to 3p.m. It was closed chained etc. at 2.40 when I complained the man said it should have been open to 3p.m.  Las year I complained because the usual man there refused to take cash at 2.45 as he had already cashed up for the day.  No way to run a business and hopefully it will change if and when we get a new statuion.

[wrex]

I like the when we get a new station bit Llechwedd,as we know September is the date they have given so CCBC have a person on the case now working out excuses for another delay.

[Fester]

The station is supposed to be open from 8a.am. to 3p.m. It was closed chained etc. at 2.40 when I complained the man said it should have been open to 3p.m.  Las year I complained because the usual man there refused to take cash at 2.45 as he had already cashed up for the day.  No way to run a business and hopefully it will change if and when we get a new statuion.

Faced with that pathetic level of service. I would simply board the train of my choice and pay nothing until challenged.
Why waste time with the booking office anyway?

[SDQ]

Why waste time with the booking office anyway?

Because the ticket is cheaper from the booking office than if bought on the train.

[Cambrian]

Too true, SDQ.  Conductors are also well within their rights to refuse to accept railcards if you board at a staffed station without purchasing a ticket - as I found to my cost when we had a family railcard!

[Fester]

Fair enough, but if the ticket office can't be bothered opening in its contracted hours... or do cash transactions within those same hours, I would be justified in making a deduction of my own when paying on the train.

Anyhow, on the very rare occasions I need to travel by train, I would use trainline.com   ...even cheaper!

[Llechwedd]

When I went to to the booking office  here and saw a nice man he quoted me £47.90 or advance £40.something from Abergavenny to London.  Luckily I didn't have enough money on me.  I went to Junction yesterday as I couldn't stand the strain of Llandudno and got a ticket for £23   aaagh.  Does anyone at Arriva know what they are doing? The man who served me kept on asking what did my colleague in Llandudno say re. prices?  I pretended I couldn't remember.  Why would he do that what's going on?

[Bri Roberts]

Llechwedd, as you are a regular user of the railways network may I recommend you purchase a senior railcard?

It is a shame somebody did not recommend one when you recently paid £76 for train journey down to Cardiff because it would have given you one third off the £76 you actually paid.

That is around a £25 saving which is roughly the cost of an annual senior railcard for one whole year.

As for prices for your future train journeys, I recommend you carry out your own research online and in your own time.

[Llechwedd]

I hate to tell you this but I do have a senior rail card.  I was quoting the full price just to demonstrate what a rip off it is to travel a mere 160 miles.  The other prices quoted are all WITH said card!

I don't have a credit card (been there done that!) so can't get tickets on web.  I try and get Advance tickets when I can  but they usually involve an enforced one hour wait in Chester (which I try and ignore - haven't been caught yet).

[Bri Roberts]

Just booked to go to Cardiff on Sunday.  It will take 5 and a half hours and cost £76 single.  Good grief.

In that case, the £76 is only a rip-off because you want to be at the Wales Millennium Centre in good time on a Sunday to watch a performance that commences at 4pm so you have chosen to travel via Crewe tomorrow morning.

As a result, your train journey will take 5 hours and 14 minutes.

Earlier in the week, an advance single ticket to Cardiff leaving tomorrow morning cost £36 and it would have only taken you 4 hours and 17 minutes.

You could have caught that train and still not missed the performance start by catching a taxi straight down to Cardiff Bay.

With a senior railcard that ticket would have cost only £24.

Whilst I agree train fares can be expensive I feel you have been unfair to Arriva Trains Wales on this occasion.

BTW, you can always use a debit card to purchase tickets online if you do not have a credit card.

[mull]

Fester,

Watch using the on line ticket sellers.
I think you will find it cheaper to stick to the Train operating companys sites.
Thats the advice from Barry Doe the expert in "Rail" magazine. This boy knows his stuff.

[wrex]

Can anyone remember why the Station development was downgraded from atransport hub,the original plan was tohave the coach park on platform 4and 5.I wonder who decided that this was not feasable.