No group saver train tickets for football fans

Reading supporters travelling to Monday's match will not be able to buy group saver tickets with First Great Western

READING Football Club fans in West Berkshire travelling by train to the play-off final on Monday will not be able to use group saver tickets through train operator, First Great Western (FGW).

The tickets, which can save each member of a group of four about £10 for a day return trip to London, are not being permitted on all services on Monday, as it is one of the operator's ‘barred dates' owing to the Run to the Sun festival in Cornwall and other Bank Holiday events.

This has however angered fans, who have hit out at the train operator with thousands of people expected to travel via public transport to the capital for the one-off game.

Nigel Chambers, who tried to buy a group saver ticket for Monday at Newbury train station yesterday (Thursday), said he was dismayed to find a sign at the station saying that First Great Western weren't honouring the tickets on Monday, as he had not found such information on the operator's website.

He said: “I suggest with the large number of people travelling from Swansea and Reading on Monday, it is just blatant profiteering from First Great Western.”

FGW spokesman, John Ratchford, confirmed that Monday was one of the dates when group savers were not permitted due to specific events, as announced earlier this year, adding that people could still buy tickets in a group on Monday, but there would be no saving in doing so.

He added that the information should be communicated to customers at train stations, including via signage.