Season ticket pricing anomalies - challengeable?

[mjc]

Hello my knowledgeable friends,

With a change in working pattern coming up, and rail fare hike!, I've been reviewing the best ticket combinations but realised that not all seasons are created equal.

Normally for my route (Stoke to Birmingham) a split at Stafford is the best value (saving £5 on day return, £30 on a Flexi), but for annual season it actually makes it more expensive.

Messing about with the figures I can see the annual is priced at 40 weekly season tickets, but the weekly seasons vary massively, 3.2 times an anytime day ticket going straight through but 3.5 and 4.3 times for the split, and 4.5 times if I dare to want to travel from my local station in Longton!

These aren't massive differences for a weekly ticket but when multiplied up by 40 for the annual it's massive. Straight through the annual price is equivalent to 128 days, the Longton to Stafford portion of a split is over 180 days.

Is there any standard the TOCs should be adhering to for pricing weekly tickets, and/or any way to challenge the prices they set?

Thanks!

 

[Haywain]

Is there any standard the TOCs should be adhering to for pricing weekly tickets, and/or any way to challenge the prices they set?

In a word, no.

 

[Hadders]

With this being the railway, any fares correction would see the price of season tickets increased rather than the price of day return tickets decreasing.

Be careful what you wish for.

 

[Deafdoggie]

How are you currently getting from Longton to Stoke? If you're driving I'd suggest driving to Stafford-where there is cheaper council parking near the station. And even (limited!) free street parking a bit further away. The travel time won't be radically different (via Meir Heath & Sandon) & there are more trains from Stafford to Birmingham.

 

[RJ]

I did an exercise with the fares data, some weekly seasons are less than 2x the cheapest ticket for anytime same day return travel, while others are over 10x.

Best not to talk openly about specific anomalies as they will just get corrected in the TOC’s favour.

 

[CyrusWuff]

In the specific example mentioned by the OP, the through fare is set by CrossCountry, whilst Stoke - Stafford and Stafford - Birmingham are set by West Mids.

The Stoke - Birmingham Anytime Day Return (SDR) is thus £30.30, whilst Stoke - Stafford is £8.90 and Stafford - Birmingham is £16.90.

 

[mjc]

In the specific example mentioned by the OP, the through fare is set by CrossCountry, whilst Stoke - Stafford and Stafford - Birmingham are set by West Mids.

Which is even more bizarre since West Mids can't be @r$ed to actually run their trains beyond Stafford all the way to Birmingham!

how are you currently getting from Longton to Stoke? If you're driving I'd suggest driving to Stafford-where there is cheaper council parking near the station. And even (limited!) free street parking a bit further away. The travel time won't be radically different (via Meir Heath & Sandon) & there are more trains from Stafford to Birmingham.

I cycle from Lightwood to Stoke as much as I can, we have decent facilities in the office to shower and change. In the worst weather I use a combination of walking or bus to Longton, then train Longton to Stoke, or bus from home to Stoke. We're a one car household and Mrs C sometimes needs the car for work, but a good option to consider occasionally, thanks.

Thanks for the feedback folks, the pricing is really weird, and given there's a standard formula for the annual it makes no sense not to have a standard for the others.

 

[30907]

Which is even more bizarre since West Mids can't be @r$ed to actually run their trains beyond Stafford all the way to Birmingham!

But they (including LNW which is the same company) run the relevant trains - and consistently charge less than XC

Thanks for the feedback folks, the pricing is really weird, and given there's a standard formula for the annual it makes no sense not to have a standard for the others.

That doesn't follow - the annual is always pro rata to the weekly, whether the weekly is 3.5 or 4.5 times an ordinary fare (or more, or less).