Posted 18th September 2013 | 11 Comments
First signs of major shake-up in ticketing rules
THE FIRST hints of major changes to the way railway travel is charged for have been emerging, with two announcements from the Department for Transport over the past 48 hours..
The first appears to pave the way for shoulder peak pricing, allied with 'flexible' season tickets using smartcard technology, while the second envisages new regulation for off-peak intercity single fares, rather than off-peak returns as at present.
The DfT has been preparing a fares and ticketing review which was launched with a consultation in March 2012. At the time, the then transport secretary Justine Greening had said: "We believe strongly that buying a rail ticket should be a straightforward transaction, not an obstacle course; and that passengers should be able to choose confidently from a range of fares, finding the best one for their journey without having to understand every nuance of the fares and retail structure."
The publication of the review appears to be running behind time. It was promised for 'summer 2013', which means the DfT technically has three days to go.
However, the indication that prices for travel in the shoulder peaks may come down will be welcomed by commuter groups, who had feared that prices in the high peak could go up as a means of flattening demand.
Rail minister Norman Baker said: "It is vital we work smart by harnessing technology and adopting a more flexible approach to ticketing.
“Part-time workers and those who sometimes work from home have long complained they have to pay the full price for season tickets even though they do not get the full benefit. Under this pilot we will look at how we can give them a better deal and also reward those commuters who avoid the busiest rush hour services.
“Our vision is for a ticketing system that gives passengers what they need, when they need it, but which over time costs less not more. This will allow us to focus our resources on improving train services and ending the era of above inflation fare rises.”
The Department said it had committed £45 million fort smart ticketing as part of the South East Flexible Ticketing programme. Once this is underway the DfT will start discussions with a London area commuter operator to identify a suitable route and products for the trial, although this will depend on the agreement of terms and a business case.
Meanwhile, the rules also seem set to change on intercity routes. At present off-peak returns are regulated, which can mean that they can cost about the same as an unregulated single. This is now set to change under a pilot scheme which the DfT hopes to launch in 2015.
Mr Baker explained: "I am determined to end this confusing and frustrating system whereby the price of single fares for long-distance journeys can be similar to those of returns.
“Passengers need every confidence that the journeys they are paying for are the best deals in terms of convenience and money spent, and the launch of this pilot is proof of our determination to make that happen.”
The DfT will now be holding talks with long-distance operators in a bid to agree commercial terms and choose a route for the intercity trial.
Reader Comments:
Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.
anon, over the rainbow
Having seen lots of news about seasons and trying to introduce 'part-time and off peak seasons' etc, to use weekly seasons as an example, in London and south east, MOST season are priced between 3 and 4 days travel or even better
Portsmouth to London £66.20 Peak day Return yet the weekly season is £116.70, Off peak day return is 37.10, thats 7 days travel for the price of just over 3 times the fare.
Peterborough to London any train £99.00 yet weekly is 172.20 or FCC only is £53.00, weekly £145
and the savings are even greater with monthly and annual seasons(Most seasons charged at 40 weeks, THATS 12 WEEKS FREE TRAVEL!!!!!
I agree what people say about it being all smoke and mirrors, just a shame the media etc focus on the highest fares around not the day to day ones people use
david c smith, milton keynes
Of course, the complexity and uncertainty in current rail fares is due , not to the basic structure itself but to the complicated definitions of what constitutes " peak" and "off - peak" - these can vary from line to line and service to service.
Gregory Darroch, London
Some interesting comments above. As a commuter and someone who regularly uses the railway for leisure or business, I WANT fares that are standardised, exactly the way that Chiltern do theirs. If I have to choose between the complicated fares of other companies (buying two or three singles for specific trains at specific times of day, which may be cheaper from another company) and Chiltern to get to Birmingham, I always choose Chiltern.
Why? Because I know what I need to pay for a single or a return and when I can travel. I do not care if I can choose two singles, multiple singles or a return or how much they are in comparison to each other.
I WANT simple fare structures and I hope that the government does not listen to the minority groups, which it useualy does, and ignores most peoples want of simple fares of x amount between A and B.
Jon, Hertfordshire
The arguments here are primarily about pricing.
Last time fare structures were changed we were promised simplicity - exactly the opposite happened!
My own personal observations / suggestions are:
(a) (Re)introduce off-peak seasons.
(b) Provide more flexibility with nearby alternative routes - outward from one station, return to another nearby station. Seasons and returns. Same or different operators.
(c) Advance ticket pricing and restrictions are too complex. I only use them for frequent journies where cost of occasional non-use or changes are made up by the potential saving.
(d) Peak pricing is a day out trip killer. You cannot even leave on a near empty train at 06:00. More flexibility is needed - such as Peterborough to Weymouth.
(e) Consider the end of peak crush - with shorter formation!
(f) Consider equalising rules between morning and evening peaks. Oh, dear, another leisure trip disinsentive.
(g) Always check price of return and if close buy that instead of a single as a backup in case of unexpected events.
(h) Definition of peak is too lax - only considers people traveling to work. Too often see a crammed short formation between 22:00 and 01:00 Need more stabling flexibility to allow staff to add another unit on demand.
(i) On most peak journeys cycles are restricted. That's easy to implement but some way of extending restrictions to large luggage, prams, buggies, wheelchairs
and folding bicycles is needed. I am a user of all expect not at wheelchair point yet...
Chris Neville-Smith, Durham, England
Before anyone floats any more conspiracy theories about the evil train companies and their smokescreen to get even more money out of you, both of these measures are relatively easy thing to implement that the train companies were heading towards anyway.
Most long-distance journeys are purchased as advance tickets, and they are already sold as component singles. The only singles that cost as much as returns are the off-peak tickets, which anyone with any sense avoids like the plague. For the few travellers who need a single ticket with flexibility, you're more likely to price them off the railways altogether than make extra money. Some companies have already started selling off-peak singles at half the price of the return, so it's not too painful for the rest to follow.
Peak pricing is a bit of a misleading concept, because it's more complicated than that. An Anytime Return on a commuter route can be insanely expensive, but commuters don't buy those, They buy season tickets, which works out much cheaper per journey that individual Anytime Returns. This means, in effect, the peak fare structure encourages regular commuters and discourages everyone else, which is fair enough - you cannot reasonbly expect commuters to extend their working day by 3 hours to avoid travel at peak times, But even after pricing off non-commuters, there are still corwding problems in high peak hour on many routes. One way of alleviating this is to offer commuters a discount for avoiding high peak hour, Again, Transpennine already do something like that of their own accord, so it shouldn't be too difficult for other operators to do something similar.
The one crucial detail of these recommendations is that there's no suggestion of raising regulated fares to pay for discounts on shoulder peak season tickets or off-peak singles. Train companies are profit-making businesses and they do not offer cheap Advnace fares out fo the goodness of their heart - they do it because it makes commercial sense to do so. That won't change any time soon, and to suggest that it will seems to me little more than opportunistic scaremongering.
Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex
I fail to see what's wrong if a return ticket works out as less than two singles or even a single ticket as long as ticket office tells you when you purchase ticket .
With the advent of electronic ticketing like Londons Oyster system the need to pay per individual journey will decline especially when changes of trains and even railways are involved in getting from A to B via C.
david c smith, milton keynes
I've never been a real rail commuter, making more use of intercity and long distance trains.
So I don't have much of a view on commuter fares ; however, a number of possible fare reforms suggest themselves for non - commuter services.
Chilretn Railways recently brought in an interesting structure for Birmingham - Marylebone : peak and off - peak basic tickets , with a £ 20 per journey supplemenr for superior accommadation during peaks and £ 10 outside the peaks - very simple and effective, with no seperate 1st class fares.
A further possibility might be to use supplements differently. Instead of supplements for superior accomodation,there could be relatively cheap fares, standard and 1st, with variable supplements charged on top for travell on peak ( or popular ) trains.
Nick, Chelmsford
They'll just raise the return fares and slightly lower the singles to avoid loss of revenue, there is no way any of the franchises will agree otherwise. So for the majority of people who buy returns this will just be a huge price hike.
frustrated of tunbridge wells, Tunbridge Wells
I bet the TOC's find a way to make flexible tickets more expensive than any fixed ticket comination. "Value for Money" is not in their vocabulary.
The £45mio will disappear in management "fees" and the infrequent commuter in sth East will end up paying for this "Improved Service" time and time again.
If only the the DfT would set up "OFTrans" is might slow down this practice
Tony Pearce, Reading
I do not understand the phase 'shoulder peak pricing'. But I'm pretty certain after all the dust settles that overall the passengers will be paying more even if some pay less. All smoke and mirrors methinks. I know prices are a jungle but its reasonably easy for a ticket machine to calculate (or should be) the cheapest fare depending when you buy the ticket and when you want to return. These facts could be easily entered at the machine in response to questions. We already have to click on the type of railcard and number of passengers and children. Adding the time of return journey is straitforward, or is it ?
(The 'shoulder peaks' are those periods on either side of the busiest time -- roughly up to 07.00/07.30 and also from around 08.30/09.00 until the start of true off-peak at 09.30/10.00. The definitions will vary from line to line, and also depend on the travelling time to the city centre.--Editor)
Chris, Longstock
At last. It has become expensive trying to buy tickets to several places in one round trip. Single tickets at half the return price is fair and may result in more business trips - more revenue.
The last time I travelled on the Cotswold line, the return ticket costs less than one single!