Taken for a ride

Winning back trust on trains

IF THE website nationalrailco.uk cannot provide accurate information on the price of train tickets, who can?

The Department for Transport seems incapable of asserting any authority – it has presided over a convoluted system in which it can invariably be cheaper for passengers to split a journey into separate segments, even though they don’t have to change trains, rather than buying one ticket to travel from A to B.

And the privatised rail operators cannot be trusted. Until now, they’ve shown little inclination to introduce more transparent ticket arrangements so travellers are automatically offered the cheapest fares rather than having to rely upon their own ingenuity to make savings of up to £85. Presumably their financial margins are such that it is in their interests to maintain the status quo.

However, this does not excuse the fact that rail fares in this country are widely regarded as the most expensive in Europe. As investigations in the past week have revealed, these practices are certainly at odds with the more ethical approach to business promised by Theresa May and Ministers are right to instigate another review.

Yet, given the Government’s past track record, it is imperative that the review’s conclusions are not only made public – but then implemented without exception. Enforcement will be critical if the trust of passengers is to be won back following this unfair fares farce that has seen travellers taken for a ride for too long.