Explain, please, how that would improve the position for the customer? Noting that I am customer and only a passenger when actually on the transport. The only way to improve this is for accurate, transparent information, on the ticket. If the railway companies do not want to earn more money from their customers then cease upgrade/excess ticket sales and only do changes of date and, or time. If this were an ordinary customer relationship then the sales person would always be trying to up sell, here the opinion of some from the industry, is that it is the fault if the darned public fir wanting to buy our cheaper tickets. Rather than have a menu of chargeable upgrades we should make them thankful for their lot. No way to run a business. After all the simple principle is that I bought a ticket (already over £100) for a journey, from EC. I then wanted to pay some more so as to add flexibility, because my previously set timetable had become more open ended. EC's brochure offers me a selection if amendments AND upgrades. One of these is to the full fare anytime ticket, whose normal availability is to offer multiple routes. Why should I then be penalised so as go have the original advance rules applying? There were advance tickets still available for alternative trains, but I wanted and was sold the full priced ticket, at the very same price as if I had just walked off the street; with the exception that I returned the original ticket/reservation and accepted the admin fee for doing so. In any business model this seems perfectly reasonable, EC had had my money already, they gained another £46 of sale plus £10 for admin for accepting the effective refund on the previously bought goods.
If your un-customer focused approach was to be employed by other large retailers they would lose so much of their business they would fail. Instead I see ways of adding value and earning more from the customer, whilst also improving their experience, such as taking a note out if some airlines' books - offer a walk up add on if £10 to any advance ticket holder who wants to take an earlier train, subject to seat availability. Restrictions would have to apply to intermediate travellers, such as on cross country services, but at terminals where you know the largest number if passengers occur (London departures where intermediate stops equal overall passenger reductions) this could offer an easy and profitable upgrade and spread loads.