End of the line for baffling train ticket pricing? Rail bosses admit 'split ticketing' is cheaper as 'overdue' consultation into simplifying system is announced
- Rail travel plagued by delays, overcrowding and ever-rising season ticket prices
- Passengers can pay high prices for long connecting journeys when cheaper exist
- There are currently around 55 million different ticket fares which exist in the UK
With
rail travel plagued by delays, overcrowding and ever-rising season
ticket prices, the golden age of steam can seem like a long time ago.
But
commuters have been given a rare boost after it was announced that the
confusing system of wildly differing fares could be overhauled.
Passengers
can pay high prices for long connecting journeys when there are
quicker, cheaper alternatives – or more for a return than two singles.
Currently around 55 million different fares exist, including
long-standing anomalies such as charging a peak-time fare when half a
trip is on an off-peak service.
Meanwhile, ‘split ticketing’ – buying
multiple tickets to cover different stages of a single journey – can be
cheaper than buying just one ticket.
A
public consultation will look at ways to simplify the system. It will
lead to a report containing proposals for the Government to consider.
A passenger group claimed reform is ‘overdue’.
In December, it emerged that more than two-thirds of ticket machines do not tell passengers how to get the cheapest fares.
It
came despite the Department for Transport pledging to ensure that
machines tell passengers if they can save money by waiting a few minutes
to buy an off-peak ticket or going to a ticket office.
Just
one in three passengers said they were ‘very confident’ they had bought
the best value ticket for their last journey, according to research by
auditors KPMG commissioned by the industry.
Rail travel is plagued by delays, overcrowding and ever-rising season ticket prices
The
Rail Delivery Group, which represents private train operators and
Government-owned Network Rail, said the industry’s suggestions will aim
to have no change in average fares and need no extra support from
taxpayers.
The current ticketing system
is underpinned by regulations unchanged from the mid-1990s, and has not
kept pace with technology or how people travel.
Three
decades ago it was assumed customers bought tickets from ticket
offices, whereas now they can be bought at machines or online from a
number of different providers.
Each of
the 2,500 stations in Britain must still sell tickets to every other
station in the country, but further layers of complexity have been added
through individual franchise agreements.
In
February, a probe by the independent rail watchdog the Office of Rail
and Road found one in five mystery shoppers selected a more expensive
ticket than necessary or were at risk of a penalty fare when using a
ticket machine.
It urged train firms to refund commuters who overpaid.
KPMG
has outlined a number of principles for rail ticketing, including
making it more transparent, predictable and easier to use, plus
integrating it with other modes of transport and introducing more
personalised and flexible fares.
Rail companies say they are trying to cut jargon and provide clearer information about peak and off-peak times.
Rail
Delivery Group chief executive Paul Plummer said the industry is
committed to reforming ‘well-meaning but outdated’ regulation, but
warned there are ‘no quick and easy solutions’.
Anthony
Smith, chief executive of passenger watchdog Transport Focus –
partnering with the RDG on the consultation – said: ‘Fares and ticketing
systems need to suit the way we travel now.’
The consultation will open on June 4, with a report expected in late autumn.
