PASSENGERS from Huddersfield are paying over the odds for journeys to London because train staff are unaware of the best deals.

Travellers are also forking out more because certain off-peak tickets which can be purchased at Wakefield Westgate are not available at Huddersfield Railway Station.

Now the town’s MP Barry Sheerman has demanded action after being asked to pay more than £60 extra for a return ticket to the capital.

“People travelling from Huddersfield don’t get the same deals as people travelling from other stations,” said the Labour backbencher.

Mr Sheerman made the discovery after going to buy tickets to London from Huddersfield and Wakefield Westgate stations in the same week last month.

In each case he asked for a first-class return travelling that day and using a Railcard.

In Wakefield he was offered an off-peak ticket but in Huddersfield he was told this fare was not available – and he was asked to pay £66.65 more.

Mr Sheerman said: “When I was in Wakefield the ticket seller said ‘don’t get an ordinary ticket, you can have an off-peak return’. It cost me £168.95 from Wakefield to London.

“A few days later I went to Huddersfield and asked for an off-peak first-class return but they asked me for £235.60.

“I disputed the figure and said ‘I’m sure you’ve got this wrong’ but she was right – they aren’t allowed to sell the off-peak tickets. I refused to buy the ticket.

“It’s a serious difference. How many of these bargain tickets are available in Wakefield that aren’t available in Huddersfield?”

Mr Sheerman is also unhappy that the ticket seller in Huddersfield did not tell him he could have bought a return to Wakefield for around £4.90 and then purchased an off-peak return to London at Westgate station – saving him more than £60 on the £235.60 he was quoted.

The Labour MP has raised the issue with First TransPennine Express, which runs Huddersfield Railway Station.

“They told me there’s no way the computer system would tell anyone the cheapest way to go to London because it’s too complicated,” he said.

“Their staff wouldn’t be able to tell the customer to get a cheap ticket to Wakefield and get a better deal from there because they wouldn’t be prompted to say it by the machine.

“The computer doesn’t say ‘no’ it says ‘I don’t know’. I think it’s extraordinary.”

Mr Sheerman met First TransPennine Express managing director Nick Donovan and head of franchise development Kathryn O’Brien in his Westminster office on Monday.

“They tried to be helpful and they did say that they would go away and see what improvements they could make,” he said.

“I want a guarantee that when people arrive at Huddersfield railway station they are able to buy the best available fare.

“People who are more knowledgeable will ask for a split ticket but most of my constituents are not railway buffs.”

Mr Donovan explained why his staff did not offer split tickets to customers, even when this was a cheaper option.

“In line with all operators, we are required to offer the best value ticket for the full end-to-end journey which is the ticket that was offered at Huddersfield,” he said.

“There are occasions where it may be possible to travel for a lower overall cost by combining fares for two separate journeys via an intermediate station.

“However, our staff would not necessarily know the cheapest option as there are numerous ways in which customers could split their journeys, some of which may travel via an alternative route and take longer or provide less frequent journey opportunities.

“We therefore offered to sell Mr Sheerman the most appropriate ticket for the full journey, as per national guidelines, which was an anytime first-class ticket from Huddersfield to London.”

Mr Donovan added that his company was unable to sell off-peak first-class return tickets to London because East Coast – which operates Wakefield Westgate Station – had not made them available.

He said: “Fares across the country are set by the primary operator on the route, which in the case of Mr Sheerman’s journey between Huddersfield and London, is East Coast.

“At the time of purchasing his ticket, East Coast was offering a discounted ticket from selected stations as a trial, including an off-peak, first-class ticket from Wakefield.”

An East Coast spokesman confirmed that the discounted ticket was not available from Huddersfield.

“East Coast has been trialling a first-class off-peak fare for a limited period for journeys between our principal stations and London,” he said.

“Mr Sheerman was able to buy a discounted version of the trial first-class off-peak fare from Wakefield. He was correctly advised that this trial off-peak fare is not available from Huddersfield.”

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