Open Access
Something to say? This is your platform.
News of reform to rail fares is very welcome, but I’m not holding my breath.
The rail industry (through the Rail Delivery Group) and the Department for Transport announced “radical fare changes for clearer, simpler ticket choices” (their words, not mine) on February 1 2017. Yes, 18 months ago.
It was a strange announcement, as industry insiders told me at the time they were only made aware of the proposals when the press announcement was made.
The announcement said that: “Passengers on trains between London and Sheffield or Scotland will be among the first to benefit from an overhaul of rail fare regulations as part of the tests agreed between train companies and the government.”
Well, passengers on these routes have not benefited. And it seems that the trials have been killed off by the industry and the DfT, despite the announcement saying they would start in May 2017.
The RDG said at the time that the trials to simplify the complex rail fares system would mean:
A route will be overhauled to reflect what is actually on offer, ending the existing situation where changes to train services in many cases only allow fares to be added to the system rather than older, less relevant routes which customers do not use being removed from the fares system to make it clearer. This would have removed the little-bought Sheffield-London Terminals ‘Any Permitted’ ticket.
A best value end-to-end ‘through fare’ will be offered for test journeys where customers change trains, by offering one price combining the cheapest fare for each leg of the journey. This was to have been introduced on CrossCountry and would have used the same calculation as split ticketing to reduce ticket process on a test flow.
Easier journey planning by showing customers the best price in each direction on selected routes, allowing customers to mix and match the best fare - like airline bookings. Virgin Trains East Coast and CrossCountry would have introduced one-way walk-up tickets that were around 50% of the return price for London-Scotland journeys.
May 2017 came and went, and in December last year it was confirmed in a Fares Action Plan report that the rail industry had made limited progress with the three trials.
That report concluded: “The DfT has established a framework that enables operators to discuss the trials within the context of competition law, and planning for the changes needed to fares has taken place with evaluation frameworks developed. However, more work is needed before the trials can be implemented and fundamental challenges exist around balancing the financial position of train companies and any cost implications for passengers.”
The report suggested that the industry would renew its efforts into 2018, and that fares reform remains a personal priority of the Rail Minister. That may be so, but the question is: will fares reform ever take place given the tight framework that exists within franchise agreements?
The privatised train operators will always want a buffer against abstraction of projected income. The DfT will not want to pay them compensation, and we have stalemate. Unless the industry and its partners are serious about fares reform, then it will always get parked in the ‘too difficult’ siding.
Steven Knight, Peterborough