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FAQs FAQ icon

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  • JourneyCheck FAQs
    What is JourneyCheck?

    An internet site which gives details of what is currently happening in real time to train services on Chiltern Railways generally and also in respect of specific journeys which can be personally chosen.

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    What is shown?

    The site gives details of incidents affecting services along a route, specific train delays, alterations and cancellations and real time departure and arrival information. It also gives details of both incidents and planned disruption of London Underground services (only relevant for Train Operating Companies running into London). Other information may also be shown dependent on the requirements of the particular Train Operating Company.

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    Can I get a quick overview of what is happening?

    Yes, the home page of JourneyCheck page shows how many items of each type of information there are and under the All Updates section.Expanding each section (if there are updates present) provides access to update details.Entering in the stations you are traveling between in the Select Journey box will provide you with the trains you can catch, and detail which of the updates will affect your trains specifically.

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    How do I get more information about any item?

    Alongside each item on the right is a square with a + sign in it. Clicking on this will expand the item and show more details. Clicking on this square again (now showing a - sign) will reduce the information shown to the summary.

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    Can I filter the information for my journey?

    Yes, by selecting stations from the list and entering them in the 'From' or 'To' (or both) boxes, the information will be filtered to only show items likely to affect trains serving the station(s) you have specified.

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    How do I get departure board information?

    You will need to select stations from the list and enter them in the 'From' or 'To' (or both) boxes (see previous Q and A).

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    Can I select journeys that involve changing?

    No, only routes with direct train services between them will display relevant information.There are no direct Chiltern Railways services between the 'from' location and the 'to' location will be shown in the departure and arrival boxes in this case.

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    Where does the real time information come from?

    The 'Line' and 'Service' Problems are fed directly from the Chiltern Railways Control Room, where decisions on current train running are made and using Nexus Alpha's own systems. It is thus the most up to date information available about the train service.

    Departure Board information is supplied from National Rail Enquiries via an automatic system. Underground Information is supplied by Transport for London Travel Information.

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    How far into the future do the listed incidents in 'Line' and 'Service' Problems cover?

    These are displayed as soon as they are received from the Chiltern Railways Control Room and thus cover as far into the future as is known at that time.

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    How far into the future do the departure boards go?

    Normally we'll show about then next hours' worth of trains up to a maximum of 10 trains.If there are no trains scheduled in the next hour, a message ' There are no direct services to the 'to' location departing from the 'from' location within the next hour.' will be shown for departures with a similar wording for arrivals.

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    Do the Departure Boards only show the trains operated by Chiltern Railways?

    No, all the services of all the Train Operating Companies operating trains along the route you have selected will be shown together with the name of that company underneath the details.

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    What does 'No Report' etc. in the Calling Pattern mean?

    There are a number of words which may appear and this is what they mean: Delayed = This service is delayed, No report = There is no report on the progress of this service yet, On time = This service is on time, Starts here = The service has not yet started the journey, Cancelled = The service has been cancelled throughout, Not Stopping = The train is running for part of its journey but not calling at that particular station.

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    Can I see how my train is actually running when it is en route rather than just having 'expected times'?

    Yes. When the timing shown in the Calling Pattern against a station is shown in normal typeface this indicates an expected time. However when you refresh the page, as soon as there is a report of the train leaving a station, the timing shown in the Calling Pattern against that station will be shown in italic rather than in normal typeface and this indicates the time that the train actually departed that location.

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    What is a 'Circular Route'?

    Some trains start from a location and then go round in a loop returning to terminate at the same station from which they started. These are 'Circular Routes'. Sometimes using one of these trains the long way round the loop would be very slow. See the next Q and A for details of how to find the quickest service.

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    How can I quickly change my route around for the return journey?

    Clicking on the double ended arrow to the right of the 'From' and 'To' boxes in the Route Filter will reverse the 'From' and 'To' locations.

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    Can I save a route to be used later?

    JourneyCheck will automatically remember recent journey searches you have made in the Recent Journeys section of the page. You can 'Pin' one of these by clicking on the Pin image on the relevant item which will ensure this item is not replaced by future searches.

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  • General Alert FAQs
    What is JourneyCheck Alerts?

    A system which sends alerts about disruption to your train services to you using e-mails and/or SMS text messages. For a more detailed please look here.

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    How much does it cost?

    We do not charge you either directly or indirectly via messaging costs for the JourneyCheck Alerts service.

    If you opt to have SMS messages, when you enter a mobile phone number, you will need to send a verification message to our system which will be chargeable by your mobile operator at your normal rates.

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    Can I register for journeys on individual days as well as for regular travel?

    Yes. You can register for regular journeys (by selecting the days of the week you travel) or for journeys on any specific day or a combination of both (subject to a maximum number of SMS alerts).

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    If I register for an alert for an individual day only, will I have to re-register if I want to get an alert for another day in the future?

    No. Your registration and alert details will remain on the system unless you unsubscribe yourself. Should you wish to set up another alert for an individual day in the future you can use the details of the previous alert and modify them (including the date) as necessary.

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    What information is included in Alert messages?

    Alerts for specific services will indicate: late arrival at your station, cancellation of the service, changes to the train such that it is no longer going to your destination and likely delays en route. Additionally, general problems on the route which might affect your service are also included.

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    I'm having problems logging into my account, what could be wrong?

    You should log in using the email address and password you specified during registration. Check you have not mistyped these.

    If you have forgotten your password, you may enter your email address and click on the forgotten password button, which will email you a reminder of it. If the system does not recognise your email address, it is possible you may have mistyped your email address during the registration process. Please contact our customer services department if you continue to experience problems.

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    Where can I view the JourneyCheck Alerts terms and conditions?

    If you have already registered, Terms and conditions can be viewed by clicking Terms and Conditions menu item access through the My Details page.
    If you have not registered, Terms and Conditions are accessible via a link at the foot of the Personal Details section of registration process.

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    What happens if I forget my password?

    You can request that it is sent to your e-mail address from the Log-In section of the JourneyCheck site.

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    What happens when I go on holiday?

    In the My Alerts page of the site shown when you first log in, you can advise the system that you wish the alerts to be suspended for a period of time. (Remember that mobile phone operators may make a surcharge for SMS text messages received outside the UK.)

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    What if I no longer wish to use the service?

    You can log in and then unsubscribe yourself via the remove me button at the bottom of the My Details page.

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  • Alert Registration FAQs
    Why have I not received my verification email?

    Sometimes your mail application may mark the verification email as ‘Spam’ and move it to a ‘Junk Mail’ folder or similar. Make sure this has not occurred. Alternatively you may have mistyped your email address during registration. Please contact our customer services department if you continue to experience problems.

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    Why must I supply an email address?

    This will be your username for administering your alerts and the address to which e-mail alert messages are sent.

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    Do I need to give my mobile phone number?

    Not if you wish to be advised by emails only. If you wish to receive some SMS alert messages, you will need to supply your mobile number.

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    Why do I have to verify my e-mail address and mobile phone number (if applicable)?

    This ensures that they are valid and prevents misuse by people trying to register other people‘s addresses and phone numbers.

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  • Alert Message FAQs
    Why have I not received any SMS alerts ?

    SMS Alerts are only sent when there is known disruption that will affect your registered journey parameters. It may be that there is yet to be such disruption since you registered. Alerts will not be sent to unverified mobile phone numbers, so check that you have verified your mobile phone number correctly.

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    My train was disrupted but I did not receive any alert. Why?

    There could be a number of reasons as the system is essentially providing predictions of what is likely to happen and this can never be exact. In particular if you join a train where it starts its journey or close to there, it may be very difficult to accurately predict a likely delay before its timetabled arrival time at your station or the earlier specified alert time.

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    When I set my alerts up do I need to know exactly what trains I want to use and change my details when the timetables change?

    No, you define the period of time you may join your train. All services that you could use in this time period are registered for you automatically. Minor changes to train timetables thus do not affect your alerts although major changes to the train timetable or your personal use of the train service may require you to amend your Alert Details.

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    How do I change my alerts?

    You can at any time log-in on the JourneyCheck Alerts login page (using your username and password) and amend your own personal details and/or the details of the alerts you require.

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    Can I set up alerts for journeys where I have to change trains?

    Each alert is for a single journey leg but you can register for separate alerts for the different legs of your journey (if provided by Chiltern Railways ). If your onward journey uses the services of another Train operator you will need to register with them for that part of your journey (if they provide this service).

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    What happens when I go on holiday?

    In the My Alerts page of the site shown when you first log in, you can advise the system that you wish the alerts to be suspended for a period of time. (Remember that mobile phone operators may make a surcharge for SMS text messages received outside the UK.)

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    Will I always receive an alert at the time I have requested?

    An email alert is sent out indicating either that there are no problems reported or indicating the problems likely to affect your services. An SMS text alert is only sent out if there is a reported problem likely to affect your services.

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    When will I get updates?

    If you have registered for updates and the likely affect on a particular train has changed (for better or worse), you will receive an update of the problem as an email. You may alternatively choose to receive SMS text updates (subject to the maximum SMS text updates shown on your Alert Details page). Where an alert was sent indicating a problem and this was completely resolved during this time, the alert will be in the form of ‘is now OK’. This is the only circumstance when SMS text alerts may be sent to indicate no reported problems for a service.

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    What types of problems are included in the alerts?

    Alerts for specific services will indicate: late arrival at your station, cancellation of the service, changes to the train such that it is no longer going to your destination and likely delays en route. Additionally, general problems on the route which might affect your service are also included.

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    What does 'may be cancelled', 'may be delayed' mean? Why can this not be more specific?

    At times there are general problems on a route such as a lorry hitting a bridge, a security alert or a major signalling problem and the exact effect on specific trains cannot be predicted very far in advance of your journey. In these circumstances a warning alert of ‘may be cancelled’ or ‘may be delayed’ is used as appropriate dependent upon the anticipated effect on your services.

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    Why if there are general problems on a route, are individual trains listed? Why not just say there is a general problem?

    Trains may come along different routes or parts of the route before the station you join at and it is important, therefore, to identify which of your trains may be affected by the problem.

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    Are all the known problems included in the alerts?

    All problems identified as likely to affect your services are included in email alerts. Because an SMS text alert is restricted to a very short message, all problems may not be included in SMS text alerts.

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    As SMS text alerts may not contain all problems, which ones are included?

    The logic is based on the most severe effect on the train, so cancellations of services take higher priority than delays. It may not possible to display all affected trains in the message and it may be desirable to check the main JourneyCheck web site: http://www.journeycheck.com/chilternrailways

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    What are the three letter codes used for the stations?

    These are the railway CRS codes for the stations and details of these can be found at the foot of this page.

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