Fare Dealer
RAIL fares expert Barry Doe says the Action Plan for Information on Rail Fares has achieved little.
I was astounded to read the ‘one year on’ update on the Action Plan for Information on Rail Fares and Ticketing, published a few days before Christmas.
The Action Plan was, we’re told, an alliance of government, train companies, the consumer group Which? and Transport Focus “to help passengers identify and buy the cheapest and most suitable train tickets”.
The reason for my being astounded was the comment from Rail Minister Paul Maynard: “Our aim was to make it easier for passengers to find the best value fares… remove the complexity from the whole ticket-buying process (and) working with the train companies and consumer groups has helped us make some really positive changes.”
Then, would you believe, he added: “Simpler ticketing has helped rail passengers save money and improved the overall travel experience this year.”
So how was it I missed all this, seeing as I was in the UK throughout 2017?
Well, as I read on, all was revealed. It seems the “great successes” were firstly more operators introducing advance-on-the-day (memo to Paul Maynard: Yes minister, but that increased fares complexity - it did nothing to simplify it).
Secondly, there was greater flexibility on forgotten railcards (a “key achievement”, we’re told). And finally, there was “cutting jargon on tickets”. And that was it! In other words, nothing major has been achieved at all.
I expected little else from government spin, but my disappointment was in reading that Alex Hayman, Which? Managing Director of Public Markets, said: “The action plan has shown that the rail industry can deliver changes to the ticketing system quickly.” Quickly? Is nothing achieved in 20 years ‘quick’?
Even my good friend Anthony Smith, chief executive of Transport Focus, said: “Passengers will be pleased to see the progress made so far, including advance fares now available on the day of travel.”
Come on, Anthony, passengers will be horrified to see that no progress at all has been made on the big issues!
What happened to the trials in adjusting fares on some routes, to ensure split ticketing
isn’t needed? Nothing. What start has been made towards having single-leg ticketing with off-peak singles half of today’s returns? None at all.
What’s the “simpler ticketing” to which the Minister refers? As we start 2018 the ticketing system is exactly the same as it was throughout 2017 and has been for years - aside from the added complications of advanced-on-the-day plus an extension to a railcard. It’s pitiful.
In the ‘one year on’ update on the Rail Fares and Ticketing Action Plan, the Rail Minister should really have said: “We set out with a whole list of objectives we all know need urgent attention, such as reforming the fares structure and the abolition of the need for split ticketing. We all knew British Rail could have fixed it in a few months, but we found that in our fragmented railway it is just too difficult, so we have to admit we achieved nothing and doubt anything will get done in 2018 either.”
Now, that would have at least been honest. But when governments fail they always have to make it seem as if they were successful.