Thanks, Tobie. Here is the text of the letter sent to Anne Milton, MP for Guildford, inviting comments both from her and from Chris Grayling, Secretary of State for Transport.
The discount for a carnet of 10 tickets should be at least 30%.
To: Anne Milton, MP for Guildford
Re: Unacceptable Southwestern Railway ticketing proposal for part-time and flexible workers
Dear Anne Milton MP,
As a frequent rail user yourself, I am certain that you and many other passengers will be dismayed to learn of recent communications from Southwestern Railway, suggesting that their long-awaited ticket offering for part-time commuters will comprise a carnet of 10 tickets at a meagre 5% discount from full standard fares.
See link from the Southwestern Railway website as follows:
https://forum.southwesternrailway.c...-a-10-return-carnet-with-5-aggregate-discount
The provision of a ticketing structure which is appropriate for and fair to part-time and flexible workers was a firm commitment made by SWR when acceding to the franchise in 2017, highlighted on the company's website and in its PR communications as a positive change intended to provide flexibility and a discount for frequent rail users who do not travel on every day of the week.
The Government's long-stated objective in this respect has been to develop a ticketing structure which is fairly and constructively adapted to today's working patterns.
Unfortunately, it is now clear that the proposal from SWR is not designed to meet this goal -- rather it appears to have been formulated by the franchise Operator to offer the smallest possible discount which technically complies with the legal fine print of the franchise commitments rather than with their intent.
For comparison with the 5% discount which SWR are proposing for a carnet of 10 tickets, please note that a weekly season ticket from Guildford presently offers a 29% discount from 5 return journeys a week, while a monthly season ticket offers a 35% discount on 21 return journeys a month.
Using the weekly and monthly season ticket structures as a benchmark, a carnet of 10 tickets should therefore reasonably offer a discount exceeding 30%.
It is remarkable that while giving lip-service to providing a ticket option for flexible and part-time workers, in reality SWR is offering these commuters less than one sixth of the discount which is available to those travelling on every day of the week.
Given that many of those who travel on fewer than five days a week will be women, the proposal made by SWR can be seen as not only cynically minimalist but also intrinsically discriminatory by gender.
I would welcome your views on this, and I would also urgently invite comments and corrective intervention from the Secretary of State for Transport. I am certain that neither the Government nor Mr Grayling had this kind of meagre proposal in mind when setting out the vision of a modern railway which can adequately meets the needs of those who travel today and in the future.
Many thanks to you and Mr Grayling for your engagement and for your continuing support of rail commuters from our area, which as always is very warmly appreciated.
Yours sincerely,