Villa tickets

[jimwatt2mm]

I've had a question from a friend who is interested in local history and has enquired about Villa Tickets. Did the Caley, or the Symington Biggar and Broughton Railway have such a scheme and can anyone point me to details of it?

Stay safe and sane,

Jim W

[dunalastairv]

Well I have to confess I have absolutely no idea what a Villa Ticket is, so please enlighten me. If you live in Birmingham it will certainly mean something else!
Michael.

[dumb buffer]

Well there were variations on the theme, but certainly both the CR and the NBR had Villa tickets. They were effectively first class season tickets issued to people who built new villas within a certain distance of the line, usually with certain conditions about the number of people (including servants) in the household, the number of ordinary tickets to be bought annually, etc. The purpose was to encourage businessmen in Glasgow or Edinburgh to build new houses out of town, thereby encouraging both freight and passenger business. There are people with more detailed knowledge who can no doubt add detail'

Allan F

[jimwatt2mm]

Michael, here is an advert from the E&G

villa tickets.jpg (200.32 KiB) Viewed 1044 times

and also the terms and conditions for Villa Tickets on the Peebles Railway.

Villa Peebles.jpg (79.77 KiB) Viewed 1044 times

Jim W

[dunalastairv]

Even at my advanced age, you learn something new every day! Thank you everyone. Michael.

[John Paton]

Jim,

On page 66 of his book "The Caledonian - Scotland's Imperial Railway", Ross states: "On 17th May 1853 the Caledonian board approved the sale of season tickets at staff rates to owners of houses valued at a yearly rental of £30 and built within a mile of any station not being less that seven miles from Glasgow, Edinburgh or Carlisle".

Ross makes no further mention of villa tickets so I don't know how long the scheme lasted. I also assume that it might have been "£30 or above".

Best wishes,

John

[jimwatt2mm]

Thanks, John.

It's a while since I read the book and had forgotten about that. Also didn't think to look it up!

Jim W

[Jim Summers]

P113 of Operating the Caledonian Railway Vol.Two mentions Villa tickets and describes in the following pages how the Caledonian set about developing residential services.

JimS

[John Paton]

Jim,

It is not long since I finished reading your book and I had completely forgotten about that. Failed my operator's exam at the first question!

John

[jimwatt2mm]

It is not long since I finished reading your book and I had completely forgotten about that. Failed my operator's exam at the first question!

Me too!

Jim W