Call for rail fare simplification

[whole diary]

[Timmer]

Looking at the response on social media to LNER^» (London North Eastern Railway - about)’s fare ‘simplification’ it has gone down very badly.

I’m expecting a screeching u turn on this one.

[Mark A]

Is it a two year trial? Long enough to be reflected in stats for Haymarket.

Mark

[Western Pathfinder]

This from Jen on Trains from YouTube posted without comment  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AQhUBLbiLM&t=2s

[GBM]

This from Jen on Trains from YouTube posted without comment
Thttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3AQhUBLbiLM&t=2s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AQhUBLbiLM&t=2s

[GBM]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68009768
Ticket machines at train stations charge passengers more than double than what they would cost online for some journeys, according to analysis.

Consumer group Which?'s research said same-day rail tickets were 50% more expensive on average at stations.
..............................continues.....................

[Witham Bobby]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68009768
Ticket machines at train stations charge passengers more than double than what they would cost online for some journeys, according to analysis.

Consumer group Which?'s research said same-day rail tickets were 50% more expensive on average at stations.
..............................continues.....................

Anyone surprised?

[grahame]

Anyone surprised?

Very few of our members and regular guests are likely to be ... but I know there's a significant proportion of rail users who pay much more that they need for their journeys, and that it can be difficult or impossible to buy the best walk up fare for your journey from a machine - if you can even establish what that best fare is when you're standing at an unmanned station looking at the machine ...

[Bob_Blakey]

If the LNER^» (London North Eastern Railway - about) 'simplification' is a TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)-specific initiative a pox on all their houses; if it is a tester for a system wide fares update then it shows some promise but I think it could be better.

I could be wrong but I would guess that the TOC's are quite keen to know before the event how many pax are travelling on each of their 'long-distance' services. Hence the retention of Advance tickets.

Having most (all?) walk-up tickets replaced by Anytime fares seems the right way to go as long as the pricing is done sensibly.

I just don't get the reasoning behind the 70 minute Flex fare - which according to Simon Calder allows travel on the services immediately before and after the booked train - as a simplification it is not. Aside from anything else it complicates ticket validity checking by Train Managers (unless the ticket itself will actually display which 3 services it can be used on).

[Clan Line]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68009768
Ticket machines at train stations charge passengers more than double than what they would cost online for some journeys, according to analysis.

Consumer group Which?'s research said same-day rail tickets were 50% more expensive on average at stations.
..............................continues.....................

Anyone surprised?

Yes................but not with the fares findings. More with "Which ?" using Trainline as its base line for best value.

[Fourbee]

One thing to be careful of is Trainline routinely splitting journeys after a one-time prompt about offering "split-save". At this prompt it does explain about the need for the train to call at the splitting stations, but then after that there's no reminder.

For walk up tickets, if the spit ticket the Trainline offers only allows a subset of trains to be used then the comparison Which is making is not entirely fair.

...as an aside I needed some tyres quickly the other day, I ended up paying about 1/3 more than I would have done online. I don't think it's totally unreasonable for the same product to be priced differently depending on the sales channel.

[Fourbee]

I just don't get the reasoning behind the 70 minute Flex fare - which according to Simon Calder allows travel on the services immediately before and after the booked train - as a simplification it is not. Aside from anything else it complicates ticket validity checking by Train Managers (unless the ticket itself will actually display which 3 services it can be used on).

I don't think there's any need for it. TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) should advertise the fact more that if your connection(s) into a long distance leg are delayed, you can get the next one anyway. Just amend the T&Cs for the current advances to say you can travel 70 minutes earlier if desired or allow guards/TMs^‡(resolve) to use discretion. A significant cohort of people do actually respect the advance conditions and are concerned about missing their booked train that they turn up early enough to catch the previous one.

[1st fan]

I very rarely use a ticket with a specific train listed on it and normally that specific train is the Night Riviera. I can’t guarantee that I will make a specific train and because of that I like the Off Peak or Super Off Peak tickets. 70 minutes won’t cover it for me and what happens if the next train is cancelled and the one after that is more than 70 minutes away? That’s more then possible at the moment on the Cotswold line.

[Clan Line]

Daily Telegraph

[grahame]

I just don't get the reasoning behind the 70 minute Flex fare ...

Same logic as the flexiseason - to meet market demand for something between a single, tight "this train only" fare and a much more expensive anytime. Much will depend on all the pricing, but there could be an expectation that this fare will very rarely be the one people end up buying. With the flexiseason I have spoken with / informed quite a few people of their options when travelling, and on only one or two occasions has it been a good solution for them.

[IndustryInsider]

I guess the suitability of any simplification will depend on whether the government wants to simplify fares to encourage more people to travel by train and ensure fewer people buy the wrong ticket.

Or or they want to put people off travelling by train with higher fares so they might be able to reduce the cost of the railway by reducing services and/or closing lines/stations or effectively remove the ‘walk up’ railway principle on longer distance routes.