flitwickbeds
Member
- Joined
- 19 Apr 2017
- Messages
- 529
Despite me getting a refund of the difference - after a battle - in 2017 and 2018, Thameslink are once again charging Anytime fares this morning and tomorrow morning but running an off-peak (same as Sunday) service - at least from Flitwick.
On a normal Monday/Tuesday from Flitwick to St Pancras between 0600 and 0900 there would be:
Compared to today - 4 trains an hour, every other one stopping at West Hampstead Thameslink. No expresses, not even any trains which skip Flitwick.
One more comparison - a random Saturday in January. No engineering works. 4 trains an hour, every other one stopping at West Hampstead Thameslink. No expresses, no skips.
Yet today and tomorrow they are still charging Anytime fares.
I know that peak fares are used in part to manage demand. But surely the extra money also goes into paying for the extra drivers, other staff, and track usage charges for the extra trains which run in the peak period? And if Thameslink thought there wouldn't be enough demand today to run their full peak timetable (they were correct in that) why are they charging peak prices?
On a normal Monday/Tuesday from Flitwick to St Pancras between 0600 and 0900 there would be:
- 11x semi-fast (all stations to SAC then fast to STP)
- 6x express (skipping HLN, LEA, and LTN en route to SAC, then straight to STP)
- 1x West Hampstead (all stations to SAC, then WHP, then STP)
Compared to today - 4 trains an hour, every other one stopping at West Hampstead Thameslink. No expresses, not even any trains which skip Flitwick.
One more comparison - a random Saturday in January. No engineering works. 4 trains an hour, every other one stopping at West Hampstead Thameslink. No expresses, no skips.
Yet today and tomorrow they are still charging Anytime fares.
I know that peak fares are used in part to manage demand. But surely the extra money also goes into paying for the extra drivers, other staff, and track usage charges for the extra trains which run in the peak period? And if Thameslink thought there wouldn't be enough demand today to run their full peak timetable (they were correct in that) why are they charging peak prices?