Dhesi: ticketing system needs “Turing to decode it”

LABOUR’S Shadow Rail Minister Tan Dhesi has called for an end to expensive fares and a ticketing system that is so complicated it “would need Alan Turing to decode it”.

Dhesi said that for passenger numbers to return to pre-pandemic levels, fundamental reform was needed from Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps, rather than “bizarre” videos and timelimited discount schemes such as the “Great British Rail sale fail”.

This was a thinly veiled attack from the Slough MP on the recent offer of half-price off-peak tickets, led by the Department for Transport and lasting for just over a month from April 25-May 27 (RAIL 956).

Designed to stimulate rail travel by offering nationwide savings, it was directly promoted by Shapps in a light-hearted YouTube video, which drew much mockery from social media users and political opponents.

“Where is the comprehensive reform of the ticketing system?” asked Dhesi (pictured).

“We have been hearing about it for years, but instead we get a bizarre QVC-style video from the

Secretary of State and what I can only term as the ‘Great British Rail sale fail’.

“Perhaps the Transport Secretary is considering a new career in acting. But I wouldn’t give up the day job just yet, or until the next election when we very much hope to have a Labour Government.

“We are still yoked to the Ticketing & Settlement Agreement [that has governed ticket retailing since privatisation], which has more pages that a Dostoevsky novel and is every bit as nightmarish.”

Citing the famous mathematician and computer scientist whose team broke the wartime Enigma code, Dhesi added: “We are still subject to a ticketing system that is so complex that you would need Alan Turing to decode it.

“It leaves passengers frustrated, confused and much poorer because, unfortunately, our railways are still way too expensive. We won’t be able to attract people back to rail at those high prices. Fares have risen twice as fast as wages over the past decade.”

He added: “Labour’s vision for the railway must be one where train travel is cheap and efficient, easy to understand, and accessible for all - especially key workers like nurses and teachers on low incomes.”

Elsewhere in his speech to NRRC delegates, Dhesi heavily criticised the Government for its failure to fund a rolling programme of electrification, and for significantly cutting back on the scope for the HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail megaprojects.

Echoing the words of Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, he said: “All we got was PR and not NPR, and all the points to Leeds have been sold out.”