The proposed system (if they are actually adopting the Edinburgh trial) is almost identical to what Germany is doing.
Yes, but is the price identical. That's at the heart of the matter
The proposed system (if they are actually adopting the Edinburgh trial) is almost identical to what Germany is doing.
Identical to Germany? Of course not.Yes, but is the price identical. That's at the heart of the matter
Unacceptable to do it for contactless - the price has to be advertised in advance so I can't see surge pricing being a thing on contactless!Yes, true. I wonder if that's being mulled over for contactless and local services?
Identical to Germany? Of course not.
Unacceptable to do it for contactless - the price has to be advertised in advance so I can't see surge pricing being a thing on contactless!
Yes, their reporting on this has been poor since the announcement. It does sound like whoever is reporting for them doesn't use trains very widely.I think the Torygraph has misunderstood what an Advance ticket is, to be honest.
Yes, their reporting on this has been poor since the announcement. It does sound like whoever is reporting for them doesn't use trains very widely.
Everyone has their own idea of "simple"; many people consider Ryanair's fares to be simple. They are unpredictable.I don't like this idea of "surge pricing". How is it "simplified" if you can't get a predictable walk on fare ?
Advance fares increase yield management and make money for companies like LNER; the Government wants to reduce subsidy, so is also in with the idea. It's not a customer focussed decision.I can’t help feeling that the way advances are (or aren’t) made available is far more opaque than the ‘never change’ cost of a particular off peak or anytime ticket product.
"surge pricing" aka the end of cheap super off peak weekend tickets to London...
Stevenage to London single for £5.30 each way? Are you certain this will be retained?LNER's original trial, which is said to be being extended, retains those as singles at half the return fare.
Standard RETURN
SUP OFFPK DAY R [1S]
GDR From STEVENAGE To LONDON KINGS X Route LNER ONLY
<-- Back to list of fares
PRICE Fare set by: IEC LONDON NORTH EASTERN RAILWAY Passengers per ticket: 1 adult OR 1 child Discount Status Status Code
(shown on ticket) Price ADULT £10.60
Well I don't think the government is constrained by te conditions of this trial. They can always change it, put some buzzwords on it like "increased flexibility" and call it a day. At this point nobody knows but to see "airline-style" and "train tickets" in the same paragraph is making my blood pressure rise.LNER's original trial, which is said to be being extended, retains those as singles at half the return fare.
LNER's original trial, which is said to be being extended, retains those as singles at half the return fare.
Their trial did not include short distance day tickets:If, as LNER claim, their single fares are half the return fares why is a Doncaster York single still priced at a whopping £20.10 (for a 20 minute journey!) when an Off Peak Return is £20.20?
Look up fares for any train journey in Britain
Full details of all British rail Single, Return & Season tickets and Travelcards. Built-in Season Ticket Calculator.www.brfares.com
Not only did the trial not include short distance day tickets, it was only trialled on three flows: London to Leeds, Edinburgh and Newcastle, none of which had day return fares. As a result, no return fares have been removed from the Doncaster to York flow, yet.If, as LNER claim, their single fares are half the return fares why is a Doncaster York single still priced at a whopping £20.10 (for a 20 minute journey!) when an Off Peak Return is £20.20?
To be fair, they are only "reporting" what they are told by the government. None of us, including their reporters, know what is really being plannedYes, their reporting on this has been poor since the announcement. It does sound like whoever is reporting for them doesn't use trains very widely.
Stevenage to London single for £5.30 each way? Are you certain this will be retained?
[URL ]https://www.brfares.com/!faredetail?orig=SVG&dest=KGX&rte=27&tkt=GDR[/URL]
That fare doesn't seem to me like a 'normal' fare (In the sense of being consistent with most other fares): Rather, it looks like an attempt by LNER to deny revenue to Thameslink. It's only available at weekends, and when it is available, it would presumably encourage passengers travelling only a short way to get on long distance trains, to the detriment of actual long distance passengers. It also contributes to the general unfairness of fares where fares seem unrelated to distance travelled (for example, if on a quick check, the cheapest you could get to London from Welwyn Garden City would appear to be £14.40 for a cheap day return. Surely, Welwyn to London should not be more expensive than Stevenage to London!)
For all those reasons, I don't think I'd lose too much sleep over losing that particular fare. In principle, I'd love for fares to be lower generally, but that's a separate issue, and I don't think the fare structure is particularly helped by having odd anomalous fares that are only available from particular stations (even though that's doubtless nice for the few individuals who can take advantage of those anomalies).
Is it? Have you surveyed the people of Stevenage and asked them if they want their weekend trips to London to become almost 25% more expensive in the name of simplicity?but it's the overriding public view
There are plenty of places in the southeast where both period and day returns exist. For example Guildford to Haywards Heath. I could find hundreds more if I wanted to.What to do with places like Bedford and Milton Keynes where there's both a period and a day return is an interesting question. I suspect in both these cases sales of the period returns are absolutely tiny, and so the singles would be based on the day returns or very, very close to them. There are relatively few flows where you get both, and they are almost all journeys of about 50 miles, where day trips are by far the most common thing people do. The more common case is that journeys under 50 miles only have a day return, and journeys over 50 miles only have a period return.
Or I break my outward journey on the same day. For example, I might go to Haywards Heath via Clapaham Junction. Whilst at Clapham Junction I might make an additional journey to Putney to attend a gig and then go back to Clapham Junction afterwards to continue my journey to Haywards Heath.
Or I break my outward journey on the same day. For example, I might go to Haywards Heath via Clapaham Junction. Whilst at Clapham Junction I might make an additional journey to Putney to attend a gig and then go back to Clapham Junction afterwards to continue my journey to Haywards Heath.
I think the Torygraph has misunderstood what an Advance ticket is, to be honest.
Yes, their reporting on this has been poor since the announcement. It does sound like whoever is reporting for them doesn't use trains very widely.
I suspect in reality that contactless payment expansion in the South East will get rid of that fare. And to be honest, I agree - good riddance - simplicity is better than a few people being able to save a few quid.
That isn't a popular opinion among the experts on here, but it's the overriding public view, and mine too.
Is it? Have you surveyed the people of Stevenage and asked them if they want their weekend trips to London to become almost 25% more expensive in the name of simplicity?
GWR have used the same "simplicity" excuse for removing period returns on some flows recently (although to give them credit they have said they are looking at that decision again now, but that may be interrupted by this government announcement I guess!), and as someone whose regular journey has now gone up by over 30% because of that, I'd much rather the more complex fare structure and cheaper prices!
And I am sure this example isn't the only example where passengers will end up having to pay a fair bit more for their journey (which is exactly why a lot of us are very skeptical).
Is that actually strictly speaking allowed? I was under the impression that breaks of journey are not usually permitted on outward journeys?
I don't think they could ever apply "surge pricing" to fares which are currently regulated, such as off peak or anytime. (singles & returns)
The travelling public just wouldn't stand for it.
I suspect the "surge pricing" element is more around making the pricing of advances more dynamic. So maybe having a range of prices in which advances can be offered rather than set specific prices.
I suspect the "surge pricing" element is more around making the pricing of advances more dynamic. So maybe having a range of prices in which advances can be offered rather than set specific prices.