In the classic fashion, we have yet another case developing here where on-rail competition creates anomalies.
For some time, the cheapest Off Peak Day Return fare between Milton Keynes Central and London has been the Virgin Trains only one. This was the result of a period of so-called 'price war' a few years ago which resulted in London Midland finally putting their own prices up to higher than the VT ones. There has been some increase to the levels all tickets are priced at since then.
However, around one month ago, West Midlands Trains cut the price of their dedicated Off Peak Day Return between London Euston and Milton Keynes Central from £17 to £15, thus making it the cheapest. Of course this has probably won over significant market share for them since then, and had significant marketing benefits as they're able to advertise an appealing, round number.
Unfortunately West Midlands Trains didn't change any of the other fares from nearby stations (they did tweak the single fare down from £16.10 to £14.90 though, to avoid a return being cheaper than a single, which is very good). This means passengers travelling from Bletchley pay £2 more than those travelling further from Milton Keynes Central... unless they're in the know, of course. Disappointingly this also applies at Leighton Buzzard, Tring, Cheddington and Berkhamsted. Those from Tring are only charged £1.90 more and those from Berkhamsted £1.30 more, but all the same.
Those travelling from Wolverton didn't benefit from a reduction either, so it's considerably cheaper for them to split. As almost everyone travelling from these stations will only want to use the direct WMT services, this is of course creating significant new anomalies.
Of course, this is a point of historical contention. Dedicated tickets by the lead operator are not generally permitted to remain for this long, but are in this special case.
Personally I would like to see the ORR tackle the wider issue of TOC dedicated tickets in a market review to gather evidence about how much these tickets benefit customers, and what potential they really have to grow the rail travel market. As I've commented before they are very variable in their benefits.
For some time, the cheapest Off Peak Day Return fare between Milton Keynes Central and London has been the Virgin Trains only one. This was the result of a period of so-called 'price war' a few years ago which resulted in London Midland finally putting their own prices up to higher than the VT ones. There has been some increase to the levels all tickets are priced at since then.
However, around one month ago, West Midlands Trains cut the price of their dedicated Off Peak Day Return between London Euston and Milton Keynes Central from £17 to £15, thus making it the cheapest. Of course this has probably won over significant market share for them since then, and had significant marketing benefits as they're able to advertise an appealing, round number.
Unfortunately West Midlands Trains didn't change any of the other fares from nearby stations (they did tweak the single fare down from £16.10 to £14.90 though, to avoid a return being cheaper than a single, which is very good). This means passengers travelling from Bletchley pay £2 more than those travelling further from Milton Keynes Central... unless they're in the know, of course. Disappointingly this also applies at Leighton Buzzard, Tring, Cheddington and Berkhamsted. Those from Tring are only charged £1.90 more and those from Berkhamsted £1.30 more, but all the same.
Those travelling from Wolverton didn't benefit from a reduction either, so it's considerably cheaper for them to split. As almost everyone travelling from these stations will only want to use the direct WMT services, this is of course creating significant new anomalies.
Of course, this is a point of historical contention. Dedicated tickets by the lead operator are not generally permitted to remain for this long, but are in this special case.
Personally I would like to see the ORR tackle the wider issue of TOC dedicated tickets in a market review to gather evidence about how much these tickets benefit customers, and what potential they really have to grow the rail travel market. As I've commented before they are very variable in their benefits.