Single Fares Hikes

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

The much heralded introduction of Off Peak/Super Off Peak at half the price of the return fare appears to be coming to an end in January.

As an example:

BRI^» (Bristol Temple Meads - next trains)-PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) Super Off Peak Return ^48.80 from Jan. This is the regulated fare and because of the negative RPI^▸ (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context)) back in July it is dropping a whole 20p from the current ^49. The current Super Off Peak single is ^24.50 but this rises to ^28.00 as it is only the return product that is regulated.

The Off Peak single rises from ^29.50 to ^34.00 with the return sticking at ^59.00.

So a meagre 0.4% drop in the regulated return fare is more than made up for by a whacking great 14-15% increase in the single fares. We had the half price singles for just 3 months. They were a welcome introduction and I'll concede that the increases still leave the fares below the pre Sept Off Peak Single prices, but 14-15% increase is obscene. FGW^▸ (First Great Western) can't even use the excuse that VAT^▸ (Value Added Tax) is rising back to 17.5%, train tickets are zero rated.

[Ollie]

The reason given is that it is still cheaper than it was before September.

It wasn't properly thought through I don't think, as some fares were similar or less than what people were paying to go somewhere in the Thames Valley.

[John R]

I'm reliably informed that the half price single has proved to be a misjudgment and too much revenue was being abstracted. I have to say, I'm not surprised. Walking up to Paddington at 4.30 yesterday and paying ^24 to Swindon is cheap at that time of day.

[JayMac]

I'm reliably informed that the half price single has proved to be a misjudgment and too much revenue was being abstracted. I have to say, I'm not surprised. Walking up to Paddington at 4.30 yesterday and paying ^24 to Swindon is cheap at that time of day.

We got 'positive spin' announcements from FGW^▸ (First Great Western) before the September changes, highlighting the introduction of 'half the return price' singles. Can we expect another announcement saying 'Sorry, our Fares Dept shysters f***ed up'?

Fares are my only current bugbear with FGW, so much other has improved.

[Mookiemoo]

I'm reliably informed that the half price single has proved to be a misjudgment and too much revenue was being abstracted. I have to say, I'm not surprised. Walking up to Paddington at 4.30 yesterday and paying ^24 to Swindon is cheap at that time of day.

It might be - but surely evening peak restrictions are better than charging more but giving away the return fair for ^1 - which is basically what they used to do

I say this as someone who quite often does round trips.....

e.g. WOS^» (Worcester Shrub Hill - next trains)-RDG^‡(resolve)-BHM-WOS (except the BHM-WOS part I dont usually do since I'm invariably going by car back to fetch the vehicle from WOS)

or

LUD-NWP-RDG-HFD^» (Hereford - next trains)-LUD

I end up with loads of random return portions that I think arouse suspicision when I, a daily commuter, only buys singles when between seasons just to get the use of the return portion.

[Btline]

What a surprise! The ONLY good thing about the September stealth rises changes has been scuppered!

So now we have HIGHER Advances, HIGHER Off Peak tickets, and HIGHER singles. All at a time when fares should be falling in the recession, and as TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) are losing passengers.

At the same time, LM^▸ (London Midland - recent franchise) are introducing evening peak restrictions from Birmingham on the Snow Hill lines - ann easy way to KILL OFF off peak trade. Yes, the Snow Hill lines are the most overcrowded lines into B'ham during peaks, but the answer is to order MORE not FEWER 172s, and make sure ALL trains leaving B'ham from 4.30 - 6.30 (and arriving 8.00 - 9.00)are the full 6 coaches.

[soupowl]

My single fare from London to Swindon has gone up by ^14.50.  I was paying ^20 booking in advance, now it will be ^34.50.  I think this is outrageous.  I don't have the luxury of being able to travel when I like.  Compared to French, Spanish and Portuguese train fares FGW^▸ (First Great Western) charges way too much - I think ^20 is just about reasonable for a short journey such as London to Swindon, anything more is simply greed.  II wonder what bonuses FGW bosses are getting this year?  I have never had a bonus in my job, and feel that I am completely at the mercy of greedy companies like FGW.

[Phil]

I was at first dismayed when I saw your post up there soupowl, particularly as I have to travel from Swindon to London on Wednesday 20th January.

A quick scout round the East Coast website though offered a ^10.50 ticket on the 06:58 train, which gets me there in good time and I have to say is hardly an "outrageous" price, at least to my mind.

Of course, travelling from Swindon you also have the choice of changing at Reading onto the SW Trains route into Waterloo, thereby avoiding paying any more unnecessary money into the pockets of the fat cats at "greedy" FGW^▸ (First Great Western).

The 06:58 Swindon arr. reading 07:28 and costs ^4.00

07:42 SWT^▸ (South West Trains) to Waterloo arrives 09:06 and costs ^13.60

Total: a whopping ^17.60. But only ^4.00 of it goes to FGW, so you can rest easy.

[Worcester_Passenger]

I say this as someone who quite often does round trips.....

e.g. WOS^» (Worcester Shrub Hill - next trains)-RDG^‡(resolve)-BHM-WOS (except the BHM-WOS part I dont usually do since I'm invariably going by car back to fetch the vehicle from WOS)

or

LUD-NWP-RDG-HFD^» (Hereford - next trains)-LUD

For WOS-RDG-BHM-WOS, I suspect that a return from Bromsgrove to Reading might be a cheaper solution, with a single from Bromsgrove to Worcester to complete the loop (if necessary).

Why isn't a Ludlow - Reading ticket valid via either Newport or Worcester (or B'ham and Shrewsbury for that matter)?

[Mookiemoo]

I say this as someone who quite often does round trips.....

e.g. WOS^» (Worcester Shrub Hill - next trains)-RDG^‡(resolve)-BHM-WOS (except the BHM-WOS part I dont usually do since I'm invariably going by car back to fetch the vehicle from WOS)

or

LUD-NWP-RDG-HFD^» (Hereford - next trains)-LUD

For WOS-RDG-BHM-WOS, I suspect that a return from Bromsgrove to Reading might be a cheaper solution, with a single from Bromsgrove to Worcester to complete the loop (if necessary).

Why isn't a Ludlow - Reading ticket valid via either Newport or Worcester (or B'ham and Shrewsbury for that matter)?

Because of the cost - going via evesham is a fraction of the cost of going via Newport.  The fare does not exist via brum or shrews (you'd have to be mad to go that way anyway!).

the scenarios in which this occurs in either direction occur when I have to picked up at the home end of the commute - to save dragging him indoors to worcester at either 530 in the morning or in the middle of his gym training times.

[super tm]

I'm reliably informed that the half price single has proved to be a misjudgment and too much revenue was being abstracted. I have to say, I'm not surprised. Walking up to Paddington at 4.30 yesterday and paying ^24 to Swindon is cheap at that time of day.

Abstracted from where precisely.  I think they mean lost.  When they made the single half the price of the return there was no longer any incentive to buy a return even if you were going to come back.  People were just buying singles and occasionally not paying at all when the ticket office was closed etc. 

[John R]

My words, not theirs.

I meant abstracted from higher fares in the main. As has been discussed, then new system gave a lot more flexibility to travel out at peak , back off-peak and save money. You'll still be saving money, but not quite as much as before.

[Henry]

 I've not looked at the fares with regard to the routes Newton Abbot/Exeter to London.
 Fortunately my travel times are fairly flexible, however I may well consider South West Trains.
 With the hourly service to Waterloo, but the journey times are longer, it is a viable choice.
 I wonder if this would impact on FGW^▸ (First Great Western) if SWT^▸ (South West Trains) are cheaper ?

[devon_metro]

It could be a lot worse, single fares are still FAR cheaper than in most parts of the country when compared to the return fare.

How is paying ^34 to travel out of London to Swindon during the peak hours outrageous??? It saves sitting in Traffic jams, paying ^10 congestion charge, spending money on fuel up the M4 etc etc etc

[inspector_blakey]

What a surprise! The ONLY good thing about the September stealth rises changes has been scuppered!

No it hasn't. Granted the single fares will be somewhat more than now, but they will remain significantly cheaper that before the change and will likely still offer plenty of opportunities for mixing and matching anytime/OP^▸ (Original Poster / topic starter)/SOP^▸ (Standard Operating Instructions)/advance tickets to save money.

My single fare from London to Swindon has gone up by ^14.50.  I was paying ^20 booking in advance, now it will be ^34.50.  I think this is outrageous.  I don't have the luxury of being able to travel when I like.  Compared to French, Spanish and Portuguese train fares FGW^▸ (First Great Western) charges way too much - I think ^20 is just about reasonable for a short journey such as London to Swindon, anything more is simply greed.  II wonder what bonuses FGW bosses are getting this year?  I have never had a bonus in my job, and feel that I am completely at the mercy of greedy companies like FGW.

soupowl, sorry, you are wrong. Firstly, GBP34.50 for a journey of that length right in the middle of the evening peak seems eminently reasonable to me (GBP 20.00 sound like an absolute bargain). Secondly, you are NOT comparing like with like -  you are comparing a more expensive, "higher tier" Advance purchase fare with what you are currently buying. As various posters have already pointed out here and in the duplicate thread you started about exactly the same issue, there are still plenty of advance purchase fares available at a similar or even lower level to what you pay now, so I really don't think you have a valid argument.

Yet again, somebody raises the old chestnut of how all European railway systems are supposedly cheaper than the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)'s. Firstly, that's not really correct. In fact the UK on average has the cheapest intercity rail fares (cheaper-end Advance tickets, exactly what you have been using for your journey) in Europe. You have been getting a very good deal at GBP 20.00 right in the middle of the evening peak for that journey. That aside, it's also true to say that Britain has the most expensive intercity fares in Europe, when you consider Anytime tickets, but they are not what you are using. It's a strange function of the current fares structure that our lowest fares are the cheapest in Europe and our most expensive are the dearest.

Finally, there is the issue of the massive government subsidies that European railways receive - many of the fares paid on those systems are simply not commercial without huge subsidy. The fares you pay on Britain's railways today are largely the result of government policy rather than "greed" on the part of the train operators, and non-specific frothing about how it's outrageous that you can't travel for a pittance on a fairly long journey right in the middle of rush hour does no-one any favours. To quote C P Scott, "Comment is free, but facts are sacred".