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2021 fare increases

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MikeWh

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There's a freudian slip in that press release. It says:
By keeping some fares - including Tube, DLR and rail fares set by TfL within a single fare zone – at the same level it will support the wider economic recovery of London, including tourism, as those visiting the capital and travelling exclusively within Zone 1 will not see any fare rises.
But if they make 4 zone 1 tube journeys in a day they will see a 20p rise as the daily cap has incresed.
 
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Watershed

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Rather conveniently that propaganda fails to mention the 13% increase to Off-Peak non-Zone 1 fares. Several other increases well in excess of RPI+1 there.

With inflation effectively at zero and many people facing cuts in their household income, fares increases are difficult to justify. It would be a lot better if they didn't try and spin the truth.
 

Llandudno

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Crikey £1.55 for the one hour bus hopper fare, you would pay at least £3 in any other part of the UK!
 

TFN

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I honestly was expecting the fare to rise to £1.75 at least so that's a pleasant surprise
 

matt_world2004

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I am surprised the Heathrow premium is increasing by 10p given how hugely demand is being suppressed to the airport. Even before covid the trains were coming into and going out of Hayes with less than 10 passengers on board

(with the exemption of staff changeover times, who didn't pay the Heathrow premium anyway.)

Lower off peak prices would result in a greater yield on this section of the route.
 

JonathanH

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I am surprised the Heathrow premium is increasing by 10p given how hugely demand is being suppressed to the airport. Even before covid the trains were coming into and going out of Hayes with less than 10 passengers on board

(with the exemption of staff changeover times, who didn't pay the Heathrow premium anyway.)

Lower off peak prices would result in a greater yield on this section of the route.
What is 10p on this sort of journey? It really isn't going to make any difference - after all Heathrow isn't exactly an interchange point for going somewhere else - almost everyone going there is going for airport purposes. Are you suggesting that 10p is going to be the difference between someone driving or going on the train?
 

matt_world2004

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What is 10p on this sort of journey? It really isn't going to make any difference - after all Heathrow isn't exactly an interchange point for going somewhere else - almost everyone going there is going for airport purposes. Are you suggesting that 10p is going to be the difference between someone driving or going on the train?
It's 10p plus the standard zone 6 fare increase. Iirc.

Small differences in fare increases can also have an impact on passenger numbers. Prior to the pandemic, TfL services had a less severe decrease in passenger numbers than other commuter TOCs and this was partially attributed to the fare freeze
 

infobleep

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Rather conveniently that propaganda fails to mention the 13% increase to Off-Peak non-Zone 1 fares. Several other increases well in excess of RPI+1 there.

With inflation effectively at zero and many people facing cuts in their household income, fares increases are difficult to justify. It would be a lot better if they didn't try and spin the truth.
I wonder if those journeys are more popular? I mean overall the increase across the complete range of ticket types might be RPI+1 (2.6 per cent) but if you base it on numbers of tickets sold it might be nothing like that.

Of course the London Mayor had to work this out with the DfT and ministers, so it was never going to be just what Mayor Khan might have wanted.

As the radio ads end:
To the Mayor of London and TfL every journey matters
To which I now always add
If the Department of Transport say so.
 

alistairlees

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I actually had success with my complaint to the BBC, which replied on 9th January:

Thank you for writing in with your feedback about the BBC News story “'My season rail pass has risen £12,000 since 1997'” (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55323345).

Firstly, I would like to apologise for the long time that it has taken to provide a reply. We have been presented with several challenges to maintaining our regular service over this period, and I am very sorry for the impact that this has had on our response times.

Accuracy is of the utmost importance to us and we were keen to look into the issues that you raised.

It stated in the piece that Mr Nesbit uses a first class season ticket in order to allow him to sit and work on his commute, but on reflection we do agree that his case was not representative so decided to remove the case study from this story and changed the headline accordingly.

In line with our guidance about corrections and clarifications, we have added a dated correction explaining the change.
I take issue with them claiming that the example was not "representative", which implies that they could just have chosen a better example, but that it was otherwise factually correct. The problem, of course, was that the example contained numerours errors and was therefore factually incorrect; and that these errors led to an incorrect sensationaist headline that was read by many (and was in the top ten of BBC News stories for a day).

Anyway, a small victory.
 

infobleep

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I actually had success with my complaint to the BBC, which replied on 9th January:


I take issue with them claiming that the example was not "representative", which implies that they could just have chosen a better example, but that it was otherwise factually correct. The problem, of course, was that the example contained numerours errors and was therefore factually incorrect; and that these errors led to an incorrect sensationaist headline that was read by many (and was in the top ten of BBC News stories for a day).

Anyway, a small victory.
Well done.
 

FlippyFF

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Are the fare increases still on for March 1st? Both southeastern and National Rail Enquiries are showing the same prices in March as for now.
Until March last year I was buying annual tickets but from July until now I've bought a mixture of weekly and monthly tickets (with the odd off-peak day return thrown in where needed and used off-peak). My current monthly ticket ends today so I need to know whether it's worth buying a couple of weeklies until the end of Feb. and then buy an annual again before the price rise or if the price rise is delayed again, carry on as-is...

(Editted to add...)
Forgot to mention that I tweeted NatRailEnq and they replied saying they were 'unable to say when the revised prices would be available to view unfortunately'

TIA

Simon
 

Watershed

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Are the fare increases still on for March 1st? Both southeastern and National Rail Enquiries are showing the same prices in March as for now.
Until March last year I was buying annual tickets but from July until now I've bought a mixture of weekly and monthly tickets (with the odd off-peak day return thrown in where needed and used off-peak). My current monthly ticket ends today so I need to know whether it's worth buying a couple of weeklies until the end of Feb. and then buy an annual again before the price rise or if the price rise is delayed again, carry on as-is...

(Editted to add...)
Forgot to mention that I tweeted NatRailEnq and they replied saying they were 'unable to say when the revised prices would be available to view unfortunately'

TIA

Simon
Because the fare increase was confirmed significantly later than normal, the changes haven't gone through all the usual processes yet. The increase is definitely happening - you can be sure the Treasury won't want to lose a penny of revenue!

You can buy tickets at the current rates if their validity begins no later than 28 February, so I would get 3 more weekly seasons, then an annual.
 

alistairlees

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Anything you buy up to and including 28 Feb will be at the current prices, even if the start date of the ticket is 1 March or later.
 

Hadders

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Anything you buy up to and including 28 Feb will be at the current prices, even if the start date of the ticket is 1 March or later.
Normally once the new prices are loaded into retail systems (usually 4 weeks before) anything you buy with a start date after the date of increase will be at the new price. Has this changed this time round?
 

Paul Kelly

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Normally once the new prices are loaded into retail systems (usually 4 weeks before) anything you buy with a start date after the date of increase will be at the new price. Has this changed this time round?
Just to clarify, it's not when they're loaded in that they become available - usually that occurs about 6 weeks beforehand. The 4 week rule needs to be specifically hard-coded by ticket issuing systems and journey planner manufacturers. But yes, it does sound like something has changed this time.
 

class303

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What about the current tfl £1.50 off peak anywhere zone 2-6 fare? being increased or just discontinued?
 

JonathanH

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What about the current tfl £1.50 off peak anywhere zone 2-6 fare? being increased or just discontinued?
Non-Zone 1 off-peak fares move from a flat £1.50 to three price points

It stays at £1.50 for travel within one zone, £1.60 for travel in two zones and £1.70 for travelling in three or more.
1614109186963.png

The full set of fares are here: https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/md2730_appendices.pdf
 

class303

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gray1404

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So this time round new fares will apply from 1 March 2021, however the new fare will not be chargeable until this date either? So anything purchased before 1 March 2021 will be at the current price? Have I understood that correctly?

Is there any way of checking therefore what a fare will raise to from 1 March 2021 this time? Normally entering a date of future travel into a ticket selling website shows this, but not this time round. Is it just a question of waiting until 1 March 2021 to see what the new fare will be?

Thanks.
 

alistairlees

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So this time round new fares will apply from 1 March 2021, however the new fare will not be chargeable until this date either? So anything purchased before 1 March 2021 will be at the current price? Have I understood that correctly?

Is there any way of checking therefore what a fare will raise to from 1 March 2021 this time? Normally entering a date of future travel into a ticket selling website shows this, but not this time round. Is it just a question of waiting until 1 March 2021 to see what the new fare will be?

Thanks.
You are correct on the first point. You can’t publicly see the new fares until 1 March, though they are already in industry data feeds of course.
 

gray1404

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Thanks. It is annoying that there is no way of being able to check what the new fare will be (as a member of the public) until 1 March 2021 though. Unless of course anyone here knows a workaround.....
 

trainophile

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Does anyone know whether the Freedom of Devon and Cornwall Rovers tend to be increased along with the general fares? I just look at getting one for July and they are currently the same as I paid a couple of years ago. Don't want to purchase too soon in case plans have to be cancelled, but obviously don't want to leave it until there's another fiver on 'em.
 

Haywain

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Thanks. It is annoying that there is no way of being able to check what the new fare will be (as a member of the public) until 1 March 2021 though. Unless of course anyone here knows a workaround.....
But on the other hand if you buy a ticket now for travel after March 1st you will still get the current fares.
 

Jan Mayen

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Yesterday I checked fares on a Southern TVM. When I changed the date to 2 March, it showed a higher fare.
 

mikeg

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So the moment of truth is just a couple of hours away... All the talk thus far has been on regulated fares but is this a full fare setting round where unregulated fares are likely to be altered? I say this as the majority of fares I buy fall into this category and there's scope for some very nasty surprises on my route.
 
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I dare say there may be a few surprised travellers tomorrow, as besides from at the beginning of the year, I've personally not come across any coverage of the forthcoming fare increases, and should someone look online for the price of travel tomorrow, it may well be incorrect.
 

Hadders

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It's a full fares setting round (effectively delayed from January).

I fear there will be lots of hidden increases, for example 'tweaking' of peak restrictions, removal of some good value fares etc.
 

mikeg

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So nothing too bad here on the racetrack. Northallerton - York CDR, the TPE only remains and goes up by 30p, the Any Permitted appears the same at £13.50. GC have also hiked their fare by 20p. Northallerton to Thirsk goes up by 20p to £6.30, exactly what I predicted and the THI-YRK fares go up too.

Oooh a new ticket type, the overnight return has appeared between NTR and MBR: Overnight Return

Is this the first example we have seen?
 

CyrusWuff

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Two comparators I usually look at:
  • The Anytime Return from London to Manchester (£95 in September 1996, which is equivalent to £184 today) has increased to £369.40, meaning it's now more than doubled since privatisation.
  • The Anytime Returns from London to Sheffield - £78 via Chesterfield (£151), and £85 (£164) via Any Permitted route, have increased to £210.50 and £221.00 (increases of 39.4% and 34.8% since privatisation).
 
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