'TAKEN FOR A RIDE - Rip-off fury as Xmas fares nearly TRIPLE'

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the People:

Millions of rail fares are being tripled over Christmas - sparking fury among hardpressed travellers.

Unions and watchdogs branded the off-peak and advance prices on some of Britain's most popular routes "outrageous and a rip-off". And one union accused rail chiefs of halving the number of cheap fares to cash in on the rush to see loved ones at Christmas.

Operators who have sent prices soaring include the state-run East Coast network, Richard Branson's Virgin Trains and the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)'s largest rail firm First Great Western.

An off-peak return between London and Glasgow normally costs ^72 - but the cheapest fare now available from Christmas Eve to December 27 is ^201.30. And the fare from London to Penzance, Cornwall, for the same period has rocketed from ^43.50 to ^114.85.

Britons will make more than 22million train journeys in the week leading up to Christmas.

Unions claim operators usually sell about 10 per cent of off-peak seats at lower prices. But the Transport Salaried Staffs Association claimed the cheap offers had been slashed over the festive period to half that.

Boss Gerry Doherty said: "Train companies won't tell us how many due to 'commercial confidentiality' but it is outrageous passengers will be ripped off. And the exploitation's made even worse by the fact the companies are subsidised by the taxpayer. Virgin is getting over ^250million in subsidies from the Government this year and First Group - which owns First Great Western - is receiving over ^100million."

And Amy Stockton, of the watchdog Passenger Focus, demanded more transparency on price deals. She said: "Passengers don't trust they are getting the best deal."

The Association of Train Operating Companies insisted thousands of punters had been able to buy cheaper tickets. But asked how many, an official would only say: "Operators give what they consider the most useful information for passengers."

nick.dorman@people.co.uk

London-Penzance (First Great Western) up from ^43.50 to ^114.85, London-Glasgow (Virgin) ^72 to ^201.30, London-Newcastle (East Coast) ^104.60 to ^193, London-Manchester (Virgin) ^27 to ^82, London-Cardiff (FGW^▸ (First Great Western)) ^23 to ^61, London-Bristol (FGW) ^20 to ^49, London-Lancaster (Virgin) ^64 to ^145, London-Hull (East Coast) ^29.60 to ^84

[super tm]

Same boring story year after year.  Advance fares are to sell spare capacity at quiet times.  Christmas is not a quiet time so you sell less advance tickets.  What more is there to say - thats capitalism. Supply and demand.  Ive got kids and surprisingly it costs more to travel at school holidays times.

[IndustryInsider]

Yawn... Indeed 'super tm' same old same old...

[old original]

The part about FGW^▸ (First Great Western) London Penzance is just a load of b(*&^$%s

The truth behind London to Penzance fare is that FGW are dropping the evening restriction on the 24th so you can get a Super off peak (^41.50) at any time after 10.00 in the morning

I believe there are then no restrictions on tickets until the 4th of January

Obviously some sad journo trying to make a story, who should apologise immediatly for the c%$p he has written.
He is obviously just quoting the advance fares and couldn't be bother to research further after all why bother to spoil a good story with facts.

Sorry for the rant but I just annoys me - a lot

[John R]

Yes, you can get singles to and from Glasgow on the 24th and 27th for 54.40 each, so about half what the People are claiming.

[devon_metro]

What a load of tripe. They've overlooked the generosity of the TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) in abolishing peak restrictions.

Agree with supertm these tabloids obviously don't understand the first thing about supply and demand. Its similar to claiming that arriving into London at half 8 on Monday morning and not getting a cheap ticket is "outrageous"

[Super Guard]

Excuse my French but for **** sake....

Christmas Eve - 14:00 PNZ-PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) will cost you ^41.50
27th Dec... 14:45 PNZ-PAD once again ^41.50

Christmas Eve - 14:06 PAD-PNZ ^41.50
27th Dec - 14:57 PAD-PNZ ^41.50

These are Super Saver Off-peak and not advance tickets either.

Not quite ^114.85 is it ?

[Super Guard]

Looks like we are all united on this topic 

Perhaps an email to Nick Dorman is needed!

[matt473]

Probably its just a case of not being bothered to look. I just had quick look at fgw website for fares bewteen Swansea and Bristol on xmas eve. leaving Swansea around 9am you can travel for around ^7 whilst returning around 6pm for the same price or on later trains for ^8.50 1st class. Fantastic fares can be found on xmas eve just like any other day if you look. There will also be large number of people likely to be travelling on this route for shopping in Swansea, Cardiff and Bristol from places inbetween so these prices for a guaranteed seat on what are likely to busy services are great, especially it means avoiding xmas eve traffic

[John R]

Looks like we are all united on this topic 

Perhaps an email to Nick Dorman is needed!

Just sent as it happens:-

Nick

I don't work in the rail industry but your article today was complete rubbish. For example, you quote a cheapest return fare to Glasgow of over ^200, yet unrestricted singles are available on every train on both days for ^54.50, so about half what you quote.

Similarly, a return to Newcastle is available on every train on those days for ^105, the same price as you claim is no longer available (give or take 40p).

Most of your other fares were wrong too, by the way.

Even the ones that were accurate, such as Bristol to London up from ^20 to ^49 just means that the small number of advance tickets available at that price have all gone. Most passengers pay ^49 anyway. Of course, 12 days before Xmas it's not surprising that all the really cheap fares have gone, when they've been available for 3 months. That woiuld be true at any time of year, let alone Xmas.

But at least you could get your facts right, rather than quote fares nearly 100% higher than ones which are available on every service on the days in question.

Still, never let the facts get in the way of a good story,eh?

[JayMac]

I couldn't even be bothered to do a breakdown of the inacuracies in this piece of tosh. My first response was <yawn>. Then I thought, is there anyone on the forum who will defend this article.....

[Chris from Nailsea]

Gentlemen - I'm impressed!  

I managed to keep a (fairly) straight face while I typed that original post, but your reaction here has surpassed all my expectations!!  

Chris  

[IndustryInsider]

Whilst I applaud John R and his e-mail, I will not expect the headline in next Sunday's People (which, to be fair, I thought had died as a newspaper several years ago), being 'People's Reporter Humbled by Inaccurate Rail Article!'

[JayMac]

Gentlemen - I'm impressed!  

I managed to keep a (fairly) straight face while I typed that original post, but your reaction here has surpassed all my expectations!!  

Chris  

In my previous post I also considered asking you Chris, what your thought process was as you posted the original article. Maybe something along the lines of, "Bit quiet in the coffee shop tonight, let's stir things up" 

Paging TJ for his 'devil' smiley......

[Chris from Nailsea]

"You might very well think that, bignosemac: I couldn't possibly comment."