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BR All Year Rover

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yorksrob

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I was reading through a back copy of the Railway Magazine from 1973 recently, and one of the letters mentioned that BR not long before had offered a ticket giving unlimited travel throughout the whole network for a year.

The cost of this was £650 second class and £1,000 for first, which, using the Bank of England's inflation calculator would translate as £7,213.96 standard and £11,098.04 in first class today.

Just to give some context, a Leicester - London annual season ticket is £9,000 in standard and £15,632 in first. Bournemouth to Waterloo is £6,500 in standard and £10,724.

Given that the ticket would be a similar price to many commuter flows, one can't help but wonder how popular such a ticket might be today !

(btw, the writer of the letter was a Mr B Doe nowadays found in Rail Magazine)
 
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IanXC

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I think the more illustrative price would be obtained by applying fares inflation over that time rather than general inflation.
 

Tim R-T-C

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It could be used as a mechanism for the government to essentially cap annual season ticket prices.
 

yorksrob

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I think the more illustrative price would be obtained by applying fares inflation over that time rather than general inflation.

That would be interesting, however I'm not aware of a calculator for that !
 

Peter Mugridge

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If I remember right, the formal name for it was an "annual season ticket to any BR station".
 

AlterEgo

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There used to be something like an ATOC Bearer Pass which fulfilled the same thing. Rare as hen's teeth and I remember reading about it in the Manual.

Someone else will be able to fill in more on that I'm sure.
 

Tim R-T-C

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I think the more illustrative price would be obtained by applying fares inflation over that time rather than general inflation.

Would be interesting to compare season with walk-up prices as well. I wonder if any other fares are quoted in the old magazine?
 

yorksrob

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Would be interesting to compare season with walk-up prices as well. I wonder if any other fares are quoted in the old magazine?

There are various rovers and rangers mentioned in the letter, although I don't have it to hand.

It's interesting to consider how such a product might appeal to regular travellers. I can imagine that given the right pricing and marketing, you could persuade quite a few longer distance commuters to upgrade to be able to hop on a train "any time, any place, anywhere" as the old Martini advert would have put it. Certainly if it was 10 or 15% more than your season ticket perhaps.

On the other hand, it would have very much been an upper season ticket limit, so perhaps it would need to be 10% more expensive than a Plymouth - London/Leeds - London season (or whatever the broad geographical limit of daily commuting is nowadays).

Either way, whilst I don't pay anywhere near enough to travel annually personally to justify such a product, I like the idea of it as something to aspire to !
 
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Harpers Tate

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I have often thought that the thing lacking in standard railway ticketing is the total flexibility to just go {somewhere}, change your mind en route if you care to, and so on, without incurring large cost. Driving lets you do this on a (more or less) flat rate per mile, with no pre-commitment as to route, destination or anything, really.

It's most brought home to me when I have any kind of rover ticket - be it Northern's £10 when available; EMT's erstwhile "Red Dot Day", or a 7-day thing of some sort. It's rare that I set out with anything more than an initial plan, changing my mind on a whim once I get somewhere. And I love doing that.

But in order to do so outside the area or TOC restrictions of local day rangers and/or special offers, and/or regional n in m day rovers, one is faced with a minimum of 7 days' commitment. Even TPE's Club55 deal requires you to specify your actual trip, even though (Scotland aside) it doesn't affect the fare.

"Grandfathered" railway employees will know of the annual issue of free travel, network wide, each "box" being good for two days.

Now there is a product I'd buy, if it were sensibly priced......
 
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rg177

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I can imagine it being a monster of a product with a monster of a pricetag.

That said, I echo what others say about the ability to be spontaneous and flexible. I love having that on an All Line Rover.

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gordonthemoron

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sounds like a Bahncard100.

When I worked for BR in the 80s, senior management staff were entitled to an all regions annual pass. I got an Eastern Region pass for MS2
 
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A passenger showed me one in the 70's. Looked quite impressive in its wallet. I had to get one! He told me they no longer issued them to new customers, but he could renew his existing one - one reason they stopped them was car collectors (motor trade) etc abusing the pass. (personal use only)
 
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ainsworth74

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On the other hand, it would have very much been an upper season ticket limit, so perhaps it would need to be 10% more expensive than a Plymouth - London/Leeds - London season (or whatever the broad geographical limit of daily commuting is nowadays).

Well a standard class Newcastle to London season ticket is £19,000 (which seems to be about the most expensive I can find, Penzance to Paddington is more by a few hundred pounds). So add on 10% would be £20,900. Once you're talking about an annual point to point costing almost £20,000 you may as well fork out a an extra 10% for that extra validity :lol:

The first class season for that journey is £32,300 :o
 

rg177

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A Berwick upon Tweed to London annual season does exist, with first class being £37760

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yorksrob

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one reason they stopped them was car collectors (motor trade) etc abusing the pass. (personal use only)

How would they do so, out of interest ? would they pass it around between different people to collect cars ? I would have thought a photocard would sort out the issue (or maybe a specific business product, like corporate Metrocards in W Yorks).
 
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yorksrob

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Well a standard class Newcastle to London season ticket is £19,000 (which seems to be about the most expensive I can find, Penzance to Paddington is more by a few hundred pounds). So add on 10% would be £20,900. Once you're talking about an annual point to point costing almost £20,000 you may as well fork out a an extra 10% for that extra validity :lol:

The first class season for that journey is £32,300 :o

Do people actually commute daily from those distances ? They must be knackered :lol:
 

yorksrob

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Perhaps compare the price increase for a seven day All Lines Rover over the same period?

Would it be more statistically realistic to discard that massive price hike they added about a week after Lord Adonis mentioned what an excellent product it was :lol:
 

Tim R-T-C

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I wonder if a TOC might introduce such a product to encourage more leisure travel on its services. A VT only ticket, valid on the East and West Coast routes would probably be of particular interest to travellers from London, Edinburgh or Glasgow.

How about a 10% (say) premium on a standard season to offer unlimited travel on weekends/bank holidays only. Given that most people for leisure travel would have a partner/family with them who would have to buy a ticket, it would make its own revenue.
 

Bishopstone

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It's a product I would aspire to but, priced appropriately, what would the market be?

Very wealthy enthusiasts with lots of time to recoup their investment.

Owners of very successful private companies, without a stock market listing hence limited corporate governance issues, who travel frequently on business but prefer the train to a Mercedes S-class and driver.

I think those potential markets would number a couple of hundred people nationally, at most, though there may be more solitary and rich rail enthusiasts than I estimate. Interesting topic.
 

yorksrob

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I wonder if a TOC might introduce such a product to encourage more leisure travel on its services. A VT only ticket, valid on the East and West Coast routes would probably be of particular interest to travellers from London, Edinburgh or Glasgow.

How about a 10% (say) premium on a standard season to offer unlimited travel on weekends/bank holidays only. Given that most people for leisure travel would have a partner/family with them who would have to buy a ticket, it would make its own revenue.

I could see that being popular if you included some of the less outlandish seasons - Peterborough to London for example. The TOC's might prefer it as they could restrict it to their own networks.

If Northern did such an offer for their network, I would take them up on it !
 

IanXC

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I could see that being popular if you included some of the less outlandish seasons - Peterborough to London for example. The TOC's might prefer it as they could restrict it to their own networks.

If Northern did such an offer for their network, I would take them up on it !

Isnt this what Chiltern provide to their season ticket holders?
 

ainsworth74

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Do people actually commute daily from those distances ? They must be knackered :lol:

Well an Anytime Return is £294 so if you're going to make more than 65 return journeys in a year (at peak times and want flexibility so APs might not be suitable) then you're going to be better off buying the season! I doubt there are many people that do it Monday to Friday (but I bet there are some that will do a few days a week in London and the rest of the time in Newcastle)!!
 

yorksrob

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Well an Anytime Return is £294 so if you're going to make more than 65 return journeys in a year (at peak times and want flexibility so APs might not be suitable) then you're going to be better off buying the season! I doubt there are many people that do it Monday to Friday (but I bet there are some that will do a few days a week in London and the rest of the time in Newcastle)!!

I can see why it would be popular then.
 

yorksrob

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It's a product I would aspire to but, priced appropriately, what would the market be?

Very wealthy enthusiasts with lots of time to recoup their investment.

Owners of very successful private companies, without a stock market listing hence limited corporate governance issues, who travel frequently on business but prefer the train to a Mercedes S-class and driver.

I think those potential markets would number a couple of hundred people nationally, at most, though there may be more solitary and rich rail enthusiasts than I estimate. Interesting topic.

I think if you priced it right, it could be anyone with a fairly expensive season ticket who likes travelling by train for leisure.
 

Starmill

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I've heard a few rumors about RSP selling 'Bearer Passes', valid for unlimited annual travel. The price was a little over £28k for a year in Standard. Unfortunately I can't verify any of the rumor, but if anyone has about thirty grand down the back of the sofa they could get in touch with them and see what they say!
 
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