THE PRICE IS RIGHT
OUR INDUSTRY INSIDER TACKLES THE ISSUES AFFECTING PRESERVATION
YOU’D HAVE to be living on Pluto to not notice that prices are going up. Popping down to the local Tesco now involves your handbag or wallet being mugged and then receiving a good kicking on the way home. Once, popping into the supermarket for some cheaper petrol was a bonus – it’s now a necessity. Electricity and gas are now so expensive that I’ve even retired the electric toothbrush and gone manual… In short, we see the prices rising everywhere. It’s tough for us all and I am hearing that people are questioning if they can even afford their weekend trip to a railway, to either watch the trains or wave flags at them. However, we don’t seem to transfer our empathy to any heritage railway managers who dare put the fares up.
Domestic electricity prices went up by an average of 30% in April, and remember the price cap doesn’t apply to your heritage railway. Preserved lines can no longer run their plant on cheap red diesel, and as for coal (if you can get it), that has easily doubled in cost. The list of rising costs hitting the heritage sector is, quite frankly, staggering and yet the biggest fare rise I have seen within the sector is just over 8%. I am waiting to be corrected, but this figure won’t even cover the cost of the price of coal to any medium sized, or above, standard gauge heritage railway. While I am sure that the narrow gauge fraternity is feeling smug, I don’t think for one minute they are not feeling the pinch. However, I know from experience that, while booking clerks up and down the UK will be complaining loudly that they are going to be inundated with complaints, it’s never as bad as they say. There will also be chattering in chat rooms and bars about the madness of putting the fares up.
This old chestnut will also materialise: “If you put prices down more people will come, and you will make more money”. If this philosophy worked then inflation would simply never happen, and we’d all be bartering eggs at the end of the road within a few years. This is already a largely not‑for‑profit industry; it’s a brave individual who leads the charge to their board that they are going to strive to make less profit than normal in a hope that this will increase the profit! Lowering prices is a quick way to shout that you are cheap, and the research is out there to say it never works. What may work is the concept of increasing the quality of the product and marketing it in such a way that the customer feels they are missing out if they don’t come.
However, that’s a different conversation for a different time. In short, what I am trying to do (badly) is explain that when prices are increased on heritage railways, the process is a lot more in‑depth than simply picking a figure out the sky. There is always risk in increasing prices but sometimes the risk of not doing so is greater; I suggest this is such a time. Right now, it’s a very real worry that any decision is a detrimental one. Be glad you’re not the one making it, and as such maybe we could be a little more understanding with those who are balancing costs against income during a time where the crystal ball is more cloudy as ever. No railway in Britain is going to cover its rising costs by buying cheaper toilet rolls or, dare I say it, charging volunteers for tea. However, I do know we are all feeling the pinch so I do know that the volunteering you do or the patronage you make will have a material benefit to the railways.
So, what may well mean a pint or two less for you could make the difference between delaying or progressing a locomotive overhaul at your favourite heritage railway; for some it could mean survival! Support your preserved line and give your liver a rest while doing so – what’s not to like?
I’VE EVEN RETIRED THE ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH AND GONE MANUAL…