Ticket Reform - North Yorkshire Moors Railway

[Iskra]

NEW for 2023: UNLIMITED Annual Pass Ticket​

Explore the whole of our heritage railway with an Unlimited Annual Pass* and benefit from FREE TRAVEL for 12 Months from the date of your visit, plus KIDS GO FREE in 2023! Our all line ticket has now been replaced by the Unlimited Annual Pass Ticket, which allows you to explore the whole of our heritage railway for £40.00.

You must travel on the date of your first booked visit to validate your Annual Pass at a Booking Office. To receive your FREE TRAVEL, after your first visit, you must either pre-book online or visit a Booking Office to secure your ticket to travel along the heritage line for future dates.

Meet our team of volunteers who tell our stories and bring the railway to life. Travel and explore the works of the charity and visit our four heritage stations. Visit the engine sheds and see how our engineers maintain and conserve our locomotives and rolling-stock. View our special lineside and see how our conservation team cares for these important habitats, as you travel through the North York Moors National Park. We are more than just trains, you can now visit time and time again.

When you Gift Aid your ticket fare, we can claim an extra 25% tax back from the Government at no additional cost to you! Every Unlimited Pass, is worth an additional £10 to the Charity, which will help us to keep our heritage railway moving for future generations to enjoy!

Unlimited Annual Pass:​

• Passengers who have bought an Unlimited Annual Pass online, must collect tickets from a Booking Office on the day of travel.

• For those who choose not to book online, a limited number of tickets are available on the day subject to availability, from our Booking Offices.

• To use an Unlimited Annual Pass for a return visit please go to a booking office with your Unlimited Annual Pass receipt, or email, to validate for a day ticket. Alternatively, you can book online with your receipt, or email, using your unique code. Simply select your day of travel and ticket type before entering your unique ID Code on your confirmation/receipt. You will still need to collect your travel tickets from a booking office, on the day of travel.

• Unlimited Annual Pass does not include designated seat selection, but a right to travel on specified day.

• Unlimited Annual Pass not valid for Pullman Dining Services, Charters, Experiences and Courses and Special Events (Unless Specified).

• Unlimited Annual Pass holders will still be required to pay a supplement to travel in First Class Seating and cannot be pre booked.

To ensure you can travel along the heritage line on your chosen day of travel, please book in advance to avoid disappointment. Adult/Concessions £40.00 (16 years+) and free for children (0-15 years).



Book Now Free Travel Timetable

Shorter Journeys* - Up to 2 stops only​

A Shorter Journey Ticket allows day return travel between up to two stations (e.g. Pickering - Goathland Day Return, Whitby - Goathland Day Return) for a fixed fare price of £15 per adult (16+) and free for children (0-15). Shorter Journey Tickets are only available to buy from a Station Booking Office on the day of your visit. For more than two stops, opt for our Unlimited Annual Pass!

Terms & Conditions / Discounted Tickets:

• Members (Standard, Life, Premier Life, Premier First & Shareholders): Tickets are available on all services. You will need your membership ID card when booking at a Booking Office and If booking online you will need to enter your Membership ID when booking. Members receive 50% discount on the All line Fare and Shorter Journey Fare, discount does not apply to the Unlimited Pass. Premier Life and Premier First receive 100% discount only applies to standard services.

• Gift Vouchers: If you have been issued a Gift Voucher, you can redeem these either via the website or Customer Services.

• Discounted Tickets : Interrail/HRA - 100% (Adult), ATOC/RST - 75% (Adult). Discounted Tickets cannot be exchanged for a Annual Pass and can be only used for specified date. To book please a Booking Office on the day of travel. A valid Pass will be required.

• Carer Tickets: These can be booked online and you will be an issued with a free ticket for your carer when you purchase a standard ticket. Wheelchairs and Pushchairs can be stored in the Guards Van.

• Fuss-Free Access Carriage: To book a seat within our accessibility carriage, please contact our Customer Service Team

• Complimentary Tickets/Vouchers: Only valid for one day only and not redeemable for an Unlimited Annual Pass.

*Unlimited Pass is valid for 12 months from the date of your visit, during our standard operating timetable (27 March - 5 November). Annual Pass is non-transferable and we reserve the rights to request identification. If purchasing a ticket onboard you must visit a Booking Office on the same day of your visit to claim your Annual Pass, this cannot be processed at a later date. Shorter Journey Tickets, are specified return tickets and cannot be exchanged to an Annual Pass. See Full Terms & Conditions.

If you have an enquiry, please email [email protected]

Link to NYMR fares announcement: https://www.nymr.co.uk/Listing/Category/book-tickets

What do members make of this? Is it a good idea and will it work?

Kids under 15 free seems a good idea and you can't argue with £40 all year, but could the railway actually lose ticket revenue because of this? Or is it away of upping the day fare by stealth in the knowledge that most people probably won't return? Seems great for local people who are more likely to make use of it and it could generate more on the day spend.

 

[Bletchleyite]

This is so common it's almost universal with museums, and allows a slightly increased price and 20% from HMRC as gift aid (because membership subscriptions to charities are allowed for it even if you get a basic benefit - this is what Scout Groups tend to do). It does rely on most people only going once or maybe twice, which I guess they think is the case. Plus enthusiasts who will use it a lot will probably spend on other stuff like the cafe.

(Would be incredibly cheap for anyone who might actually use the line as public transport!)

 

[Narrowgauge725]

Last time I went you could not book short trips and we did not want to do the full journey, now it would be worth buying the year ticket to do a few short journeys. It certainly makes a difference from it getting more and more expensive each year

 

[Iskra]

This is so common it's almost universal with museums, and allows a slightly increased price and 20% from HMRC as gift aid (because membership subscriptions to charities are allowed for it even if you get a basic benefit - this is what Scout Groups tend to do). It does rely on most people only going once or maybe twice, which I guess they think is the case. Plus enthusiasts who will use it a lot will probably spend on other stuff like the cafe.

(Would be incredibly cheap for anyone who might actually use the line as public transport!)

Indeed, I paid for a similar annual-style ticket at Bowes museum recently, but one assumes a Heritage Railway has much higher overheads to cover so for that reason I think it's more of a risk. Is the NYMR the first Heritage Railway to go down this route? True about the additional enthusiast spend, if you're on the NYMR all day you are likely to rely on them for convenient refreshments.

Yes, cheapest season ticket going, especially when compared to Northern's fares on the same line. Open access/privatisation at it's finest

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Mar 2023 ==

Last time I went you could not book short trips and we did not want to do the full journey, now it would be worth buying the year ticket to do a few short journeys. It certainly makes a difference from it getting more and more expensive each year

Yes, the pre-booking one size fits all approach was problematic, so it is good that they have liberalised their ticketing arrangements to allow more people to visit the line in the manner they would like.

 

[Joe Paxton]

This is so common it's almost universal with museums, and allows a slightly increased price and 20% from HMRC as gift aid (because membership subscriptions to charities are allowed for it even if you get a basic benefit - this is what Scout Groups tend to do). It does rely on most people only going once or maybe twice, which I guess they think is the case. Plus enthusiasts who will use it a lot will probably spend on other stuff like the cafe.

(Would be incredibly cheap for anyone who might actually use the line as public transport!)

Indeed, I paid for a similar annual-style ticket at Bowes museum recently, but one assumes a Heritage Railway has much higher overheads to cover so for that reason I think it's more of a risk. Is the NYMR the first Heritage Railway to go down this route? True about the additional enthusiast spend, if you're on the NYMR all day you are likely to rely on them for convenient refreshments.
[...]

Swanage Railway has a £99 annual season ticket (which is valid between Swanage and Norden - I cannot imagine validity will be extended to Wareham on the summer trial services). But it's a straightforward season ticket - no requirement as with this new NYMR annual pass to book in order to travel again on future dates. Nor does it appear to have any Gift Aid element, unlike the NYMR annual pass.

 

[Titfield]

Swanage Railway has a £99 annual season ticket (which is valid between Swanage and Norden - I cannot imagine validity will be extended to Wareham on the summer trial services). But it's a straightforward season ticket - no requirement as with this new NYMR annual pass to book in order to travel again on future dates. Nor does it appear to have any Gift Aid element, unlike the NYMR annuan pass.

Swanage Railway services are operated by The Swanage Railway Company which is a subsidiary of the Swanage Railway Trust. I wonder if there are certain rules and regulations re Gift Aid which currently SRC can not meet to get Gift Aid?

 

[Iskra]

Swanage Railway has a £99 annual season ticket (which is valid between Swanage and Norden - I cannot imagine validity will be extended to Wareham on the summer trial services). But it's a straightforward season ticket - no requirement as with this new NYMR annual pass to book in order to travel again on future dates. Nor does it appear to have any Gift Aid element, unlike the NYMR annual pass.

That’s interesting. I suspect the NYMR rebooking online is more about them tracking/measuring return usage than anything else.

 

[plugwash]

Two things spring to mind.

1. £40 per person is pretty steep for those who are not local and unlikely to visit again within a year.
2. It doesn't seem clear how much people who are not UK taxpayers will have to pay. Will they have to pay £40 or £50.

 

[Joe Paxton]

Two things spring to mind.

1. £40 per person is pretty steep for those who are not local and unlikely to visit again within a year.
2. It doesn't seem clear how much people who are not UK taxpayers will have to pay. Will they have to pay £40 or £50.

£40 - the difference is that the NYMR will not be able to claim Gift Aid on fares purchased by non-UK taxpayers.

 

[Bletchleyite]

£40 - the difference is that the NYMR will not be able to claim Gift Aid on fares purchased by non-UK taxpayers.

Indeed. Gift Aid doesn't allow one to charge more if it is declined, nor is a reason for it being declined necessary.

 

[william.martin]

Link to NYMR fares announcement: https://www.nymr.co.uk/Listing/Category/book-tickets

What do members make of this? Is it a good idea and will it work?

Kids under 15 free seems a good idea and you can't argue with £40 all year, but could the railway actually lose ticket revenue because of this? Or is it away of upping the day fare by stealth in the knowledge that most people probably won't return? Seems great for local people who are more likely to make use of it and it could generate more on the day spend.

This thread came with impeccable timing as I was about to post the same.
In the second week of the Easter holidays I will be taking a weeks holiday in Pickering and what a surprise I had when I got this email;

Dear #######

.

We've got some exciting news! You can now purchase an NYMR Unlimited Annual Pass* and benefit from FREE TRAVEL for 12 Months from the date of your visit, plus KIDS GO FREE in 2023!



Meet our team of volunteers who tell our stories and bring the railway to life. Travel and explore the works of the charity and visit our four heritage stations. Visit the engine sheds and see how our engineers maintain and conserve our locomotives and rolling-stock. View our special lineside and see how our conservation team cares for these important habitats as you travel through the North York Moors National Park. We are more than just trains, you can now visit time and time again.

This is very handy for me and my family as now we have purchased it, we will be able to travel to Whitby on our second day of holiday which means that from then onwards we can just hop up and down the line whenever and from wherever we like for the duration of the holiday (and year.)
I think that this type of ticket will be moreso popular with local family's who can just come here for a day with the kids then return anyday of the year again for free.