Split fares to beat rail ‘rip-off ’

RAIL passengers should buy two or more tickets for a single journey to save money, the rail passenger watchdog has advised.

Transport Focus said the Government and rail firms were taking too long to stamp out rip-off fares, as radical reforms first announced in February, which were designed to end the need for fare splitting, will not be introduced until at least 2019.

Trials for simpler tickets began in May and will continue for at least 18 months, the Rail Delivery Group confirmed.

Transport Focus said the time frame was unacceptable for passengers, and has resorted to recommending fare

splitting as one of three key ways to beat rip-off fares in its first official passenger guide to ticketing.

Commuters and other passengers are due to find out today how much extra they will be charged for rail travel in 2018. Regulated rail fares, which are linked to an index of retail prices, have risen by twice as much as wages since 2010, according to research by the TUC, a workers’ union.

Fare splitting is a controversial method of buying tickets that involves buying tickets for two or more separate legs of a single journey, instead of just one ticket.

Research shows the unconventional practice can reduce the price of travel by nearly 90per cent.

The reforms, heralded as the biggest shake-up to rail fares in 30 years, follow a watchdog probe into “rip-off ” rail machines, which was prompted by a Daily Telegraph investigation revealing that passengers were routinely being denied the cheapest fares.

David Sidebottom, passenger director at Transport Focus, said: “Picking and unravelling layer upon layer of different charges will take some time, and rail firms need to get this right. But two years is too long for passengers to wait point of view. Rail firms will always look after their own interests.”

Chris Page, national chairman at Railfuture, another passenger group, suggested that the Department for Transport was delaying the implementation of the reforms because it threatens to hit rail firms’ profits. He said: “The Government will not want to do this too quickly as removing fare splitting will have an impact on train companies’ profits. And if it does hit profits firms are likely to want recompense from the Government.”

A DFT spokesman said: “We are committed to working with the industry to make it simpler.”