EMT Travelcard Fares Shake-up

[glynn80]

Following an article in The Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/rail-users-face-massive-fare-hike-1781594.html) claiming 145% fares increases for passengers on the southern end of the East Midlands Trains network wanting to purchase Travelcard inclusive tickets to London, I thought I'd do a little investigation in a similar manner to that of the FGW fares increases.

Summary of changes from 6 September 2009

• New Anytime Day Travelcards (ADTs) introduced for passengers from Market Harborough, Kettering and Wellingborough.

• £2.00 fares increase for the Off Peak Day Travelcards (ODTs) from from Market Harborough, Kettering and Wellingborough.

• The ODT has a slightly more restrictive validity code in that the earliest passengers can now arrive into London is 1001 as opposed to 0940 prior to the September fares round alterations, effectively barring passengers from the 0724 ex Derby and the 0708 ex Lincoln services, both of which stop at all three of the stations listed above (the 0724 arrives into STP at 0947 and the 0708 at 1000).

• New Super Off Peak Day Travelcards (STOs) introduced for passengers from Market Harborough, Kettering and Wellingborough, priced at £2.00 less than the new ODT (or the same price as the old ODT).

• The STO validity code permits arrival into London after 1120 Monday to Fridays.

• All Travelcards above permit return travel by any trains as per before.

So the rises are not as terrible as The Independent would have us think (the only services passengers will be paying 145% higher prices on are the 0947 and 1000 arrivals into St Pancras), but they still do place restrictions on passengers they previously weren't subjected to.

The earliest passengers can now arrive into London (in reality) on an ODT is 1019 from Market Harborough and 1030 from Kettering and Wellingborough. Basically meaning although the validity code alteration only restricts passengers for an extra 21 minutes, this actually equates to an extra 43 minutes for some passengers.

Also passengers who previously were paying £35.50, £36.50 and £37.50 for their Travelcards from Wellingborough, Kettering and Market Harborough respectively, can now only purchase a STO for the same price, basically giving them significantly less validity but receiving no reduction in price because of it.

Looking at these rises strategically, they do bear remarkably similar traits to those carried out by FGW on their SVR fares, whereby a new tier of fare is introduced at a higher price giving exactly the same validity as before and another tier of fare is introduced at the same price as before but giving significantly less validity than before, giving effective fares rises for a sizable proportion of passengers. Again I think we can predict far more widespread occurrences of this practice come January with some such as First Capital Connect already laying down the foundations by introducing Super Off Peak Day Returns but not actually altering the validity Off Peak Returns in this particular fares round.

 

[yorkie]

I recommend passengers drive to the ECML instead!

There's only one way to fight this sort of increase and that's to stop buying these fares.

Huntingdon travelcard £28 and you can get the 0900, arriving KGX 1002. The equivalent journey on EMT (0857-1000) is a ludicrous £82, and to arrive at 1030 it costs £38.50

If I were FCC, I'd be doing an advertising campaign in Kettering and putting a fast connecting bus service with inclusive fares.

Loads of people drive to Newark and Grantham from the Nottingham area, and I can see the same happening now further south.

 

[Helvellyn]

These sort of fares are not going to go away.

Super Off Peak was first introduced on SWT, and from what I understand the DfT wants it introduced across all franchises over the coming years.

One of the key issues on SWT was that the very first Off Peak trains would be heaving, with a mix of commuters who had flexible hours and people obviosuly wanting to take advantage of the first "Cheap Day" trains.

SWT though did not have the rolling stock to run these first off peak trains with the capacity needed. Other TOCs are sort of in a similar position. So a stepped approach in fares is being used to regulate demand as it were.

At least it seems EMT, like SWT, aren't placing evening restrictions on when users of Super Off Peak tickets can return, unlike a number of other TOCs.

 

[glynn80]

Super Off Peak was first introduced on SWT, and from what I understand the DfT wants it introduced across all franchises over the coming years.

I haven't heard of this DfT policy?

Is it written into franchise agreements, if not how is it being enforced?

 

[Matt Taylor]

And in SE Hampshire SWT is facing strong competition from Southern who have been advertising their 'Southern Only' routed fares compared to SWT's 'Any Permitted', Southern is up to 50% cheaper in exchange for an increased journey time.

 

[A0wen]

Following an article in The Independent (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/rail-users-face-massive-fare-hike-1781594.html) claiming 145% fares increases for passengers on the southern end of the East Midlands Trains network wanting to purchase Travelcard inclusive tickets to London, I thought I'd do a little investigation in a similar manner to that of the FGW fares increases.

Summary of changes from 6 September 2009

• New Anytime Day Travelcards (ADTs) introduced for passengers from Market Harborough, Kettering and Wellingborough.

• £2.00 fares increase for the Off Peak Day Travelcards (ODTs) from from Market Harborough, Kettering and Wellingborough.

• The ODT has a slightly more restrictive validity code in that the earliest passengers can now arrive into London is 1001 as opposed to 0940 prior to the September fares round alterations, effectively barring passengers from the 0724 ex Derby and the 0708 ex Lincoln services, both of which stop at all three of the stations listed above (the 0724 arrives into STP at 0947 and the 0708 at 1000).

• New Super Off Peak Day Travelcards (STOs) introduced for passengers from Market Harborough, Kettering and Wellingborough, priced at £2.00 less than the new ODT (or the same price as the old ODT).

• The STO validity code permits arrival into London after 1120 Monday to Fridays.

• All Travelcards above permit return travel by any trains as per before.

So the rises are not as terrible as The Independent would have us think (the only services passengers will be paying 145% higher prices on are the 0947 and 1000 arrivals into St Pancras), but they still do place restrictions on passengers they previously weren't subjected to.

The earliest passengers can now arrive into London (in reality) on an ODT is 1019 from Market Harborough and 1030 from Kettering and Wellingborough. Basically meaning although the validity code alteration only restricts passengers for an extra 21 minutes, this actually equates to an extra 43 minutes for some passengers.

Also passengers who previously were paying £35.50, £36.50 and £37.50 for their Travelcards from Wellingborough, Kettering and Market Harborough respectively, can now only purchase a STO for the same price, basically giving them significantly less validity but receiving no reduction in price because of it.

Looking at these rises strategically, they do bear remarkably similar traits to those carried out by FGW on their SVR fares, whereby a new tier of fare is introduced at a higher price giving exactly the same validity as before and another tier of fare is introduced at the same price as before but giving significantly less validity than before, giving effective fares rises for a sizable proportion of passengers. Again I think we can predict far more widespread occurrences of this practice come January with some such as First Capital Connect already laying down the foundations by introducing Super Off Peak Day Returns but not actually altering the validity Off Peak Returns in this particular fares round.

From where I live it's as easy to get to Wellingborough as it is Northampton, and I have to say over the last 2 or 3 years the Wellingborough option into London has got very expensive.

3 years ago when the WCML was being rebuilt and the only Silverlink services were stop everywhere on a crappy 321, using the MML made alot of sense. Now the WCML upgrade is done, LM have nice shiny Desiros and fast services into London, I'd be more inclined to go from Northampton.

 

[glynn80]

From where I live it's as easy to get to Wellingborough as it is Northampton, and I have to say over the last 2 or 3 years the Wellingborough option into London has got very expensive.

3 years ago when the WCML was being rebuilt and the only Silverlink services were stop everywhere on a crappy 321, using the MML made alot of sense. Now the WCML upgrade is done, LM have nice shiny Desiros and fast services into London, I'd be more inclined to go from Northampton.

Yes the Travelcard fares from Northampton are substantially lower than those from Wellingborough.

The Off Peak Day Travelcard from Wellingborough not valid in London before 1001 is £37.50. The Off Peak Day Travelcard from Northampton not valid in London before 1000 on the other hand is £28.00 (a £9.50 saving).

The gulf is even larger when comparing the Anytime Day Travelcards. The Anytime Day Travelcard from Wellingborough is £78.00. The Anytime Day Travelcard from Northampton is again significantly cheaper, this £26.00 cheaper at £52.00.

 

[jopsuk]

Thankfully, Super Off Peak for NXEA, at least on the West Anglia route, seems to just be defined as "the weekend, all of it".

That is of course the issue with "Super Off Peak"; that it is even worse defined than standard "off Peak" which already suffers from any even near standardisation

 

[jon0844]

These new simple-to-understand tickets we're supposed to have now are giving me a headache.

What next, ticket machines that will have to operate like airline booking pages showing every individual service running to a chosen destination with a totally different price next to it based on the time of day, predicted demand (which I guess could be monitored to a certain degree if it recorded the service the passenger opted to take) and so on? Will a TVM or ticket seller have to go through a trainline style process to get you the best deal, and that's before considering alternative routes?

All of these moves to have such differing fares and restrictions, with the promise of super-cheap fares to give each TOC a 'headline' figure to show how competitive it is, is a step towards having to have Intercity-type tickets for all routes!

The poor ticket sellers are going to spend ages having to explain all the restrictions, especially when they have the obligation to sell the cheapest ticket and must therefore ask a host of questions - and the off-peak traveller may not actually know their exact intentions.

 

[barrykas]

AFAICT, the logic behind the change is reasonable:

1) It brings the Off-Peak and new Super Off-Peak Day Travelcards in line with the "normal" Off-Peak and Super Off-Peak Returns between Market Ketteringborough and London.
2) It removes a long standing anomaly whereby passengers using Market Ketteringborough Travelcards could arrive in London BEFORE those using them from "out-boundary" Thameslink stations.
3) If you're travelling into London during the peak from Market Ketteringborough just TWO days a week, a Travelcard Season is cheaper than the new Anytime Day Travelcards.

But then that's easy for me to say as it doesn't affect me...

Cheers,

Barry

 

[glynn80]

1) It brings the Off-Peak and new Super Off-Peak Day Travelcards in line with the "normal" Off-Peak and Super Off-Peak Returns between Market Ketteringborough and London.

This specific anomaly was caused by EMT themselves though at the time of Simplification. In an almost identical revenue maximising fares shake up, they introduced Super Off Peak Returns at the price of the old Saver Return but with time restrictions much more severe than they had ever been. They then set the validity of the new Off Peak Return identical to that of the old Saver, but you guessed it, at a significantly higher price.

 

[yorkie]

In other words, a massive fare rise on the old Saver, which is illegal. They have sneakily twisted the rules in order to be not officially breaking the law. That's extremely devious and morally a quite disgraceful way to treat their customers. Let's hope their customers drive to the ECML/WCML instead, as many residents of Nottinghamshire already have done.