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All across the Great Western territory => Fare's Fair => Topic started by: Chris from Nailsea on December 31, 2012, 23:08:21



Title: Commuters who travel during rush hour peak face steeper fare rise
Post by: Chris from Nailsea on December 31, 2012, 23:08:21
From the Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/9772972/Commuters-who-travel-during-rush-hour-peak-face-steeper-fare-rise.html):

Quote
Rail commuters who travel in the height of the rush hour face steeper fare rises under proposals being considered by ministers.

The option of a ^super-peak^ ticket is still regarded as a viable option and transport campaigners believe it will be included in the latest instalment of the Government^s fare review which is due to be published in the Spring.

Rail passengers, returning to work this week, have already been hit with an average 4.2 per cent rise in the cost of their season tickets.

Overcrowding during the rush hour remains a major problem, despite investment in new carriages and according to figures recently published by the Department for Transport the busiest trains can carry 50 per cent more passengers than their capacity.

One option floated in Whitehall ^ known as ^peak spreading^ would see even higher fares charged during the busiest part of the rush hour, while fares on slightly earlier and later trains would be cut.

The prospect of even higher fare rises for passengers who have faced 10 years of above inflation fare increases would be difficult to sell politically. Suggestions of a seven per cent premium, proposed in a DfT rail value for money study, have already been ruled out by the DfT as being ^unaffordable for many commuters^.

But more modest increases, which would take longer to have an impact, are possible with the carrot of cheaper fares at other times being considered as an incentive to encourage people to vary their working day.

The Olympics saw commuters alter their starting and finishing time thus avoiding the feared transport chaos which many thought the Games would bring.

Flexible ticketing is already being included as a requirement in the latest round of rail franchises and it could be used to introduce the more sophisticated fare structure needed to smooth passenger flows.

Calculations by the Campaign for Better Transport suggest that a three per cent premium, for example, would add ^83.40 to the cost of an annual season ticket from Woking to London on top of the ^2,896 from January. For commuters coming into the capital from Sevenoaks, this would add ^89.40, bringing the cost of an annual season ticket up to ^3,201.40.

^It's extraordinary that the Government is still even thinking of doing this. Super peak pricing would hit already hard-pressed commuters in their pockets, and the Government's own analysis shows that it wouldn't do anything about overcrowding,^ said Stephen Joseph, the Campaign^s chief executive. ^We want the Government's fares review to make the fares system simpler and more affordable, not even more complex.^

Earlier this week Norman Baker, the rail minister, defended the latest fare rises saying it was ^only right^ that passengers paid more for the biggest rail investment programme since the 19th century.

But Sustrans, an environmental transport charity, warned that continued above inflation rail fare rises was forcing people into car ownership, which they could not afford.


Title: Re: Commuters who travel during rush hour peak face steeper fare rise
Post by: EBrown on January 01, 2013, 05:22:51
I can see absolutely no passengers getting confused by this. Not good news if you're in a 9-5 job. :(

What would the new ticket set be?
Anytime
Most of the time
Off-peak


Title: Re: Commuters who travel during rush hour peak face steeper fare rise
Post by: thetrout on January 01, 2013, 06:00:01
Here's another weird one:

Bristol Temple Meads - Bath Spa:

CDR: ^7.00 Valid on the 09:30 to Paddington
FSR: ^15.75 Valid on the 08:41 to Weymouth, which has no First Class. First train that does is the: 08:51 to London Waterloo.

If that wasn't strange enough, the FSR is not valid on the 08:30 Paddington... Can't quite work that one out. The restriction must be any service after and including 08:31 >:(

Also if anyone wants to travel from Bristol - London in 1 hour 37 minutes for Super Off Peak Prices during the morning peak. You can have:

Super Off Peak Return @ ^53.50 (Return in 1 Month)
First Off Peak Return @ ^187.00 (Return in 1 Month)

Super Off Peak Day Travelcard @ ^58.50 (Return same day)
First Off Peak Day Travelcard @ ^191.50 (Return same day)

What's the catch? Well. You'd need to get the 04:47 from BRI - PAD arriving at 06:24 :-\

I guess it depends on how much time one wants to spend in London :-\




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