Fare Dealer
RAIL fares expert Barry Doe looks at fare increases since privatisation and how operators compare.
this issue, I present my annual table showing the percentage change in walk-on fares since privatisation for all operators that served London in 1995.
Note that only like-for-like markets are being compared. Where, for example, an operator now runs beyond the limits of what existed in 1995 (such as Chiltern Railways to Birmingham), only fares within the original area of operation are compared.
For Caledonian Sleeper (CS) travel, I compared flexible inclusive fares that offer a full refund if cancelled against the 1995 cost of a fare plus a berth fee.
I commence with my usual reminder - that a 200% increase does not mean a fare has doubled, but trebled. Now, the 92% inflation since 1995 equates to an average of 2.75% per annum. If fares had risen 3.1% annually they would now have increased by just under 110%, so I am arbitrarily going to suggest that any rise in the table of 110% or under can be considered very reasonable.
For Standard Anytime (peak) fares c2c, CS, Great Northern, London Northwestern (LNW) and Thameslink come into this category.
For monthly off-peak fares (old Savers) CS, Greater Anglia (inter-city), LNW, South Western Railway, Southeastern, Southern and Virgin Trains (VT) have kept within this. It’s interesting that when it comes to OP Day Returns, none has.
With Standard seasons, all have been kept down with the exception of Great Western Railway inter-city and Southeastern. The latter is the classic route as High Speed 1 didn’t exist in 1995. Nevertheless, the Government insisted classic fares rose to help fund HS1. Will this happen with HS2?
Increases of 280% are appalling - meaning (don’t forget) that a £100 fare under BR, which would now be £192 with inflation, is instead £380.
Finally, it’s worth my recounting how East Midlands Trains, GWR (inter-city) and LNER’s predecessors overcame the capping of OP Returns - the old ‘Savers’.
In 1995, there were Savers and SuperSavers. The Railways Act only capped Savers, and didn’t protect SuperSavers at all. As a result, within a short time most SuperSavers were withdrawn (beginning with what is now Greater Anglia’s) to give a large rise in revenue for those operators.
That was only the start. After a while, the above three then introduced a ‘Business Saver’ with slightly better conditions, but at a much higher price. Then came the ‘clever bit’! They renamed the true (capped) Saver the Super OffPeak Return and the Business Saver became the Off-Peak (OP) Return.
To illustrate, let’s say that BR had a £50 SuperSaver and £60 Saver for a journey. The £60 Saver is capped, so the new operator abolishes the £50 fare. It then introduces a £75 Business Saver, changes the name of the £60 Saver to SuperSaver and the £75 Business Saver to Saver.
So, BR’s £50/£60 fares become £60/£75 - and that’s before any fare has risen at all. The capped £60 fare is still there - all legal, but Joe Public is fleeced.
In my table, however, I compare like for like, so I’m showing what today’s OP and Super OP Returns are compared with the old Saver/ SuperSavers.
Note that Greater Anglia and Virgin were the only inter-city operators to abolish SuperSavers but not introduce a new tier,
hence their OP Return increases have been reasonable. Indeed, they’re the cheapest exLondon inter-city operators for walk-on OP travel
Yes, Chiltern Railways and LNW are a lot cheaper with their long-distance inter-city fares, but (as explained earlier) they’re outside the scope of this review.