End of ‘standing room only’ as Virgin Trains plans airline ticketing
STANDING on long train journeys will be effectively banned under radical proposals by Virgin Trains to force all long-distance passengers to book a seat before boarding.
Train companies are currently often obliged to accept walk-up fares, meaning they have no control over the number of people getting on a particular train unless it is deemed unsafe.
But under Virgin’s proposed plans for airline-style fares, with one fare available at any given time for any one service, walk-on tickets and open returns will be phased out. The rail operator, which is the largest provider of long-distance train journeys in the UK, has submitted the plans to the Department for Transport, which is currently reviewing how train companies make money and sell tickets.
In its submission to the Government-commissioned Rail Review, Virgin Group said some of its trains were so packed that passengers are forced to stand for several hours, while others are mostly empty.
It called for ticketing to be simplified by introducing dynamic pricing, which would lead to higher prices for popular services and lower prices for less popular services. The hope is that this
will result in a more even distribution of passengers across services, with fewer overcrowded and empty services and more moderately full ones.
A Virgin spokesman said that the new system could potentially allow the operator to put on more frequent trains at the busiest times of year, such as over the Christmas period and Easter holidays, to make up for the fact that fewer people will be allowed on the busiest services.
Virgin Group also wants the franchising system for long-distance routes to be replaced with an auction for train slots, in a similar way to how airlines secure the right to operate flights from airports.
Mick Cash, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, said: “What Virgin are proposing is a deregulated free for all.”
He said such a system would see “private train operators slug it out on the most lucrative routes on a slot-byslot basis.
“It would lead to total chaos with passengers trapped in a transport nightmare of escalating fares, where prices rise by the minute according to availability ... Virgin are actually proposing a version of the broken rail franchising model pumped on steroids, when what is really needed is an end to
‘We must develop a system that optimises the benefits for passengers, taxpayers and communities’
this nonsense and public ownership of our railways.”
The Rail Review is being chaired by Keith Williams, a former British Airways chief executive, and his inquiry is expected to conclude in the autumn.
Virgin Group’s submission was written before the recent decision by the Department for Transport to disqualify Virgin Trains’ bid to continue operating West Coast Main Line services due to a row over pensions.
Its recommendations are “more pertinent than ever, given this news”, according to Patrick Mccall, a senior partner at Virgin Group.
He said: “Keith Williams has said that franchising cannot continue as it is, and it is clear we need systemic industry reform, which is driven by principles and a whole-system redesign. Indeed, it is highly questionable whether any franchises can be let sensibly, or robustly, as things stand.
“This will not be an easy fix. Every option will have downsides and there will be some difficult decisions to be made.
“But there should be no dogmatic fixation on models or ownership.
“Instead, we must develop a system that optimises the benefits for passengers, taxpayers and communities and that enables the train companies to evolve as the world evolves around them. We must be both visionary and pragmatic.”