Ticket price rises for 2014 - When will the new prices be available for us to see?

[Perns1972]

Hi there,

Does anyone know when the new prices for 2014 will be available to view online?

I'm looking for a date when this will be published - all of the companies and associations who you would think would know and would be able to tell me, have told me that, "they don't know when but sometime before January 2nd"

I'm keen to find out which routes are going up by the most, which by the least and which ones might even drop in price.

If anyone knows when this information will be available for us to take a look at, it would be great if you could let me know.

Many thanks,

Perns72

 

[hairyhandedfool]

New fares generally get put into journey planners and ticket machines four weeks before the change happens.

 

[Perns1972]

Thanks for this - do you know if there's a rule that states the fares need to be available for passengers to view by a certain date? So, a date that TOCs have to work towards?

I'm guessing that December 5th 2013 would be the date to look for.

 

[pemma]

Don't forget as you can book tickets 12 weeks in advance that you can travel in 2014 at 2013 prices if you book early.

 

[Deerfold]

Don't forget as you can book tickets 12 weeks in advance that you can travel in 2014 at 2013 prices if you book early.

You can book non-Advance tickets rather further in advance than that - though you may not be able to get seat reservations (of course seasons cannot be bought nearly so far in advance).

 

[87015]

"2014 fares must not be displayed on any system capable of displaying fares to either staff or the public until 5/12/13"

 

[WelshBluebird]

Any idea roughly how much on average the prices rises will be? (Obvious there will be a lot of variation etc).

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Thanks for this - do you know if there's a rule that states the fares need to be available for passengers to view by a certain date? So, a date that TOCs have to work towards?....

Not that I am aware of.

....I'm guessing that December 5th 2013 would be the date to look for.

It should be around then, though alterations to the NFM/FRPP tend to happen on a Monday.

 

[Perns1972]

"2014 fares must not be displayed on any system capable of displaying fares to either staff or the public until 5/12/13"

Thanks for this - do you know where this advice is published? Is it internal advice for TOCs?

Could you let me know what this stands for? NFM/FRPP

Thanks,

Matt

 

[Deerfold]

Could you let me know what this stands for? NFM/FRPP

Thanks,

Matt

NFM is the National Fares Manual.

FRPP is the Fares and Retail Publication Portal.

Basically the places all the booking engines and suchlike get their fares from.

 

[pemma]

You can book non-Advance tickets rather further in advance than that - though you may not be able to get seat reservations (of course seasons cannot be bought nearly so far in advance).

Online sites won't generally let you buy anything beyond 31st Jan 14 currently, so that's about 14 weeks. I don't know about ticket offices as I've never asked for a ticket that far in advance.

 

[Deerfold]

Online sites won't generally let you buy anything beyond 31st Jan 14 currently, so that's about 14 weeks. I don't know about ticket offices as I've never asked for a ticket that far in advance.

I believe at a booking office you should be able to buy a year in advance.

 

[pemma]

I believe at a booking office you should be able to buy a year in advance.

I'd like to see someone go in at the end of November and ask for a Day Return to x on the last Saturday of every month (or something similar) until November 2014 (but not when I'm about to buy a ticket for the next service!)

 

[hairyhandedfool]

I believe at a booking office you should be able to buy a year in advance.

Indeed, one year is as far as the system allows, though I've never tried it.

 

[kieron]

(of course seasons cannot be bought nearly so far in advance).

25 days in advance seems to be all TTL sites will do. Do you happen to know what the actual limit is?

 

[tsr]

I believe Southern ticket offices will sell tickets a year an advance of travel without any issues - if the person behind the window doesn't think you're just winding them up!

 

[maniacmartin]

You can't buy seasons too far in advance. I believe that it's because the start date isn't encoded on the magnetic strip. (Don't quote me on that)

 

[hairyhandedfool]

A renewal of monthly or longer tickets would be done no more than a week ahead at a ticket office (and you should surrender your existing ticket at that time), provided there is no break in continuity, weeklies are after noon on the working day before the new ticket expires. Renewals of railcards could be upto 30 days ahead with no break of continuity.

 

[Cheshire Rover]

It will be very interesting to see what the rises are. I had a season ticket but for work reasons I ended up not using it half the time as I was away on company business. I have just sat down and worked out that if the rise on my ordinary day return (no advance on ATW Helsby to Manchester) is more that 5% then I am officially better off driving, including fuel, tax, servicing, parking and insurance. The car is paid for. I cannot be the only one who recognises that train fares are now so high for those who have no accessibility to discounted fares and need to travel in the peak that the car is now a realistic option again. A shame really but pricing people off the trains seems to be the answer to the lack of investment in rolling stock and infrastructure updates that are required to enable more trains or larger trains to run.

 

[Deerfold]

I have just sat down and worked out that if the rise on my ordinary day return (no advance on ATW Helsby to Manchester) is more that 5% then I am officially better off driving, including fuel, tax, servicing, parking and insurance. The car is paid for. I cannot be the only one who recognises that train fares are now so high for those who have no accessibility to discounted fares and need to travel in the peak that the car is now a realistic option again.

That really depends on the trip you do and how high your local TOC prices the fares.

And the difference in journey times.

For my most common journey I've a time saving of at least 25% on the train.