Three-day season tickets to entice staff back to offices

COMMUTERS will be offered threeday season tickets under plans being studied by ministers to get Britain back to the office.

Rail firms believe the part-time tickets are the only way to entice home workers back on to trains to give them the flexibility of going to their workplace for a few days a week.

An announcement on new types of ticketing could be made as soon as next month if, as expected, the Government extends emergency funding for the railways.

One of the hurdles in Boris Johnson’s way as he begins a push to get people back to the office is the financial burden of commuting.

Many commuters have saved hundreds of pounds a month by staying at home and no longer want to shoulder the cost of a full season ticket. Around two thirds say they have no intention of returning to the office full time.

Rail franchises including GWR have already submitted proposals to ministers for flexible season tickets as well as carnet-style “bundles” that offer multibuy discounts.

Although no final decision has yet been made, industry insiders expect the Government to adopt the plans within weeks. Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, will have the final say because season tickets are regulated fares controlled by the Government.

Anthony Smith, the chief executive of the independent watchdog Transport Focus, said: “For many passengers, there just isn’t a ticket available that fits the way we live and travel now.

“To get Britain moving again, the Government needs to accelerate the rate of fares reform so that train companies can offer a flexible season ticket … and better value for money fares across the board.”

Season tickets typically offer around a 50 per cent discount on the cost of buying peak-time day-returns five days a week, meaning it is more economical to buy a season ticket if someone is making the same journey more than twice a week, but the proportion of the discount diminishes if a commuter does not travel for a day or two a week.

A rail industry source said: “People have got used to working from home and conducting all their meetings online. If it costs them £50 to go to the office for a day they are not going to do that just to see their colleagues and have a chat by the water cooler.”

BUSINESS leaders have accused ministers of “scaremongering” by suggesting home workers could be first in line for redundancy, as a survey showed nine in 10 people intend to stay away from the office.

Adam Marshall, director of the British Chambers of Commerce, said “mature conversations” were needed between employers and employees, rather than dire government warnings.

It came after The Daily Telegraph quoted ministers and government sources saying that people who work from home will be more “vulnerable” to redundancy than colleagues who have been at their desks.

They suggested working from home was not the “benign” option people thought it was and bosses who need to restructure will find it easier to sack people they have not seen for months.

Mr Marshall said: “We all want to see a safe return to more workplaces – but the pace and scale will result from mature conversations between employers and employees, not scaremongering.

“Businesses have worked hard to build up trust with their people over the last six months. They’ve learned what works – and what doesn’t.”

The scale of the task facing Boris Johnson was made clear as a union boss branded the Government “dinosaurs” for wanting a full-blown return to office-based working. Dave Penman, of the FDA civil servants’ union, said ministers needed to accept the “world of work has changed”, while Frances O’grady, the TUC head, argued many staff now wanted “a better balance of office and home working”.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission said there should be “no question of people’s jobs being vulnerable if they do not return to the office”.

Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, said: “I think there’s a limit, just in human terms, to remote working.

“And there are things where you just need to spark off each other and get together in order to make progress.”

A study by Cardiff and Southampton universities found that 88 per cent of home workers would like to continue doing so, with 47 per cent wanting to do so often or all the time.

About two fifths (41 per cent) said they got as much work done at home as they did in the office, while 29 per cent said they got more done at home and 30 per cent said they did less.

Prof Alan Felstead, the study author, said: “What is striking is that many of those who have worked at home during lockdown would like to continue to work in this way, even when social distancing rules do not require them to. These people are among the most productive, so preventing them from choosing how they work in the future does not make economic sense.”