A rail pass for “staycationers”

[whole diary]

[TonyN]

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-plan-to-drive-rapid-recovery-of-scottish-tourism-sector

The Goverment press release appears at first to be just about Scotland "New plan to drive rapid recovery of Scottish tourism sector"

But in the text is

A rail pass for “staycationers” will be launched later this year, helping to make it easier and more sustainable for domestic tourists to get around the UK^▸ (United Kingdom). The new pass will build on the success of the BritRail pass, which is sold through VisitBritain and currently gives international visitors flexible travel across the country, as well as providing discounted entry to tourist attractions.

[grahame]

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-plan-to-drive-rapid-recovery-of-scottish-tourism-sector

The Goverment press release appears at first to be just about Scotland "New plan to drive rapid recovery of Scottish tourism sector"

But in the text is

A rail pass for “staycationers” will be launched later this year, helping to make it easier and more sustainable for domestic tourists to get around the UK^▸ (United Kingdom). The new pass will build on the success of the BritRail pass, which is sold through VisitBritain and currently gives international visitors flexible travel across the country, as well as providing discounted entry to tourist attractions.

Should be as simple - within the verbiage - of letting anyone buy and use Britrail passes. In other words, give British residents (and who pay taxes to support the railways) the same prices / options as those already available to overseas visitors.  Could also solve a whole load of other ticketing product issues.

I suggest that our government / regulators / ticket providers are discriminating against their own citizens by limiting the sales of these tickets - thus far - to people who do NOT live in the UK.  I do appreciate that these tickets would save some people some money (lower how much they pay to the railway) and there are implications of righting the wrong of this discrimination.

Hard to get to the websites online from within the UK ... but I give you



USD 226 -> about £160.00 at present
USD 503 -> about £360.00

[grahame]

From The Guardian

The government has announced plans to kickstart the domestic tourism industry after months of restrictions on travel, socialising and hospitality, including a new rail pass and vouchers for popular attractions.

In a bid to encourage people to holiday at home instead of abroad, an alternative to the “BritRail” pass for foreign visitors will be launched, letting Britons travel across the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) cheaper on certain days of their break, and possibly allowing children to travel free.

To support the tourism industry after the summer getaway peak, the National Lottery will also launch a £10m voucher scheme for people to redeem discount tickets at attractions, running from September 2021 to March 2022.

Details about how much the rail pass will cost and which venues the vouchers can be used at are expected to come later this summer but outline plans have been announced in a bid to buoy the sector, which was been hit hard by repeated lockdowns and confusion over travel advice.

[grahame]

https://www.acprail.com/rail-passes/britrail/americans/

[broadgage]

Such passes could become an attractive alternative to the much talked about flexible season tickets for longer distance commuters.

First class single between Taunton and London is about £175. Four return journeys would be £1,400. A lot more than one of these passes.

[grahame]

From Worcester News

Rail pass could help Worcester families reach the seaside

A new rail pass for domestic holidaymakers will be launched later this year to boost the recovery of domestic tourism, the Government has announced.

It will be similar to the BritRail pass, which entitles international visitors to unlimited train travel in Britain within their chosen zones and duration.

Those passes, which also provide discounted entry to tourism attractions, range in cost from £96 for two consecutive days to £568 for a whole month, according to retailer Trainline.

The Tourism Recovery Plan also includes a £10 million scheme involving National Lottery players being able to claim vouchers which can be redeemed at tourist sites across the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) between September 2021 and March 2022.

This is to encourage trips beyond the peak summer season, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said.

Further details of the rail pass and lottery vouchers will be announced at a later date.

The measures aim to bring domestic and inbound tourism back to pre-pandemic levels by 2022 and 2023 respectively, which is at least one year earlier than some estimates.

Tourism minister Nigel Huddleston said: “The Tourism Recovery Plan is our blueprint for how the sector can build back better from the pandemic, even faster than forecasts predict.

“It’s been a challenging year for the tourism sector, especially for our cities, but I know they stand ready to welcome visitors back and I encourage everyone to rediscover the UK’s fantastic tourism offer.”

A sustainable tourism plan will be developed to consider measures to reduce the environmental impact of tourism while balancing the needs of local communities with economic benefits.

The Government will also consult on introducing a registration scheme for tourist accommodation in England, which would include hotels, B&Bs and short-term rentals such as those booked through Airbnb. This is to give a better understanding of what accommodation is available.

Could be a good product - but I thought there was supposed to be a drive to simplify the fare system - why not simply extend the BritRaail pass to be available to anyone?

Looks like the Worcester News has an exclusive ... or has jumped the gun on a press embargo perhaps?. Also covered in  Engineering and Technology from the IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train):

A new rail pass for domestic holidaymakers will be launched later this year to boost the recovery of tourism, the UK government has announced. The news came on the same day that multiple track circuit failures wiped out services on two of the country’s busiest routes.

[rogerw]

Whilst this is a good headline, let's not forget that there is already a wide range of rover tickets available, albeit not well publicised. The use of these together with a reasonably priced add on farw to reach the starting point would do just as well. Some reduction in the price of all line rover tickets together with the removal of the somewhat random and petty morning restrictions would also be welcome

[IndustryInsider]

Some reduction in the price of all line rover tickets together with the removal of the somewhat random and petty morning restrictions would also be welcome

With demand for travel likely to be much more equal throughout the day, operators might well be able to get rid of quite a lot of peak restrictions, and a much more coordinated system from the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about), and eventually GBR^▸ (Great British Railways), could apply.

Key will be the removal of social distancing requirements, now looking more and more likely to be July - until then I think there will be little appetite to encourage many more people to use the railways.

[grahame]

Some reduction in the price of all line rover tickets together with the removal of the somewhat random and petty morning restrictions would also be welcome

With demand for travel likely to be much more equal throughout the day, operators might well be able to get rid of quite a lot of peak restrictions, and a much more coordinated system from the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about), and eventually GBR^▸ (Great British Railways), could apply.

Key will be the removal of social distancing requirements, now looking more and more likely to be July - until then I think there will be little appetite to encourage many more people to use the railways.

[super-like] ...

Now, if ever I saw it, there is an opportunity to "fix" fares and peaks.  A new system fit for a new era. And there may be a window of opportunity for it to be financially sensible for both the passenger and The Treasury.

I was 'musing' earlier about the staycation and BritRail tickets - throwing another stone into the pond (probably to sink without trace) - how about a holiday ticket not plusBus but plusTransport.  For a UK^▸ (United Kingdom) Holiday taken from - say - Basildon to Looe, provide a return ticket with all public transport in a 20 kilometre radius of Basildon on the first and last days, train travel between, and all public transport within a 40 km radius of Looe for the duration of the holiday.

[Rhydgaled]

Could be a good product - but I thought there was supposed to be a drive to simplify the fare system - why not simply extend the BritRaail pass to be available to anyone?

Agreed, why add a new similar product particularly given that there is already a fairly similar product in the form of the All Line Rover (other than price, the other difference shown in the image in your earlier post is that the BritRail pass is an 8-in-30 days product wheras the All Line Rover is 7 consecutive days).

Striking that the existing 7 day All Line Rover at £540.00 for standard class is more expensive than the 15 day first class BritRail product!

[IndustryInsider]

Are the Britrail pass rights, sales and brand owned by an organisation?  If so it might not be easy, or indeed possible, just to extend it to cover residents of the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) as well.

[grahame]

Could be a good product - but I thought there was supposed to be a drive to simplify the fare system - why not simply extend the BritRaail pass to be available to anyone?

Agreed, why add a new similar product particularly given that there is already a fairly similar product in the form of the All Line Rover (other than price, the other difference shown in the image in your earlier post is that the BritRail pass is an 8-in-30 days product wheras the All Line Rover is 7 consecutive days).

Striking that the existing 7 day All Line Rover at £540.00 for standard class is more expensive than the 15 day first class BritRail product!

Are the Britrail pass rights, sales and brand owned by an organisation?  If so it might not be easy, or indeed possible, just to extend it to cover residents of the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) as well.

Agreed that an alternative would be to remove the peak restrictions on Rovers and change their prices to be in line with BritRail.  Changing them from 7 and 14 day tickets to 8 in 15 and 15 in 30 would make sense too.