The walk-on railway

Several readers drew to my attention a piece in the Daily Telegraph on July 21, which in the typical debased English of such a newspaper said that “operators are ‘pushing to tear up’ traditional rush hour ticket rules and replace them with airlinestyle ‘surge pricing’”.

It quoted Andy Bagnall, the Chief Executive of Rail Partners (RAIL 962, pages 24-25), as saying: “We would like to see dynamic pricing.”

Readers should be clear that Rail Partners is just a trade body speaking on behalf of those operators who are members. Unlike the Rail Delivery Group and (eventually) Great British Railways, it does not speak for the industry on matters of policy.

Having said that, I’m sure we shall have elements of the industry attempting to introduce a totally book-ahead, advancefare-only railway for longer distances, simply because it would suit them to see the back of those who believe in the concept of the walk-on railway.

Finally, in RAIL 962’s Stop & Examine, Kim Fullbrook pointed to a useless display which said “please refer to timetables”, suggesting I would approve of a screen referring to a paper timetable.

Leaving aside the sarcasm, I would sooner make the point that screens can fail and at least in the past users could refer to a station timetable poster.