To think I shd be able to buy a train ticket

[Goldisbetterthantrue]

Is there a problem with train tickets I'm not aware of? I've been trying to book a train ticket to London for 2 weeks but keep being told not available. I've been in to the station and everything came up not available. The staff member couldn't explain it. I've tried 3 apps, no joy. I've tried different times, first and standard class. I've phoned the company but the wait is 30 mins minimum. Anyone know anything?

Are you trying to book on a specific train and they don't know if it will be running cause the timetables are so fluid at the moment?

If you ask on this forum someone will know: www.railforums.co.uk/forums/fares-advice-policy.105/

Where are you trying to go from and to and on what day/time etc?

I can book from my local station for 2 weeks time.

What are you trying to book

It's not Avanti West Coast is it? They recently announced changes to their timetable on the Manchester London line until the end of February. This means they've cancelled some trains but left others on the timetable which you can't book onto until they decide to either let it run or cancel completely when it is removed from the timetable.

I’ve had this issue before with an Avanti train and it was a timetabling issue. If you manage to get through to speak to someone on their customer service, they should have a date when the timetable will be confirmed and you can book. For me it was only about a week before I travelled!

We booked family tickets on NE railway to London via trainline last week. Going this weekend. We had no problem. Is it the train company that's the problem?

Same! I’m trying to book train tickets for a trip less than 3 mths away and I can’t book as they are not available. Only on another route that involves several changes, not the direct route. It’s driving me mad as other peoples plans depend on my travel times.

I had this problem using Trainline, turns out I had accidentally selected First Class which was not available on that service

If it's for a weekend there may be engineering works planned and part of the route may be closed? That often happens on the route from Manchester to Euston- especially at bank holidays.

I’m confused by this - presume you don’t mean an open return? So it must be a timetabling issue.

Trainline has been doing this for ages - it's to do with restrictions on numbers of seats so the main carriers (Avanti for example) always come up as not available, the secondary carriers (like Southern) are available for some reason. I found the best thing to do was to get a day travelcard including underground if you want a flexible day ticket with underground travel.

Where are you travelling from and when are you wanting to travel? That might help to narrow it down!
Try the Operators twitter account if you've not getting anywhere.

Knowing roughly where you're travelling from and which train operator you're working with will help people help you but it sounds like either it's a timetabling issue or just a train they haven't taken off the system bc they're not sure if it will be running yet.

Did you try other days/times?

@cortex10

If it's for a weekend there may be engineering works planned and part of the route may be closed? That often happens on the route from Manchester to Euston- especially at bank holidays.

If it's the weekend, you should check this out anyway.

The other Sunday, returning to Durham from King's Cross, a replacement bus service took us from York to Durham. Durham Station was closed for maintenance/improvements.

When I booked the ticket, I was puzzled that the Sunday journeys were an hour more than usual, so it did seem to have factored it in, but with no actual mention of replacement buses.

Op would you consiser national Express,

It's not Brighton to 3 bridges? They have major engineering works lasting 2 weeks. X