MSE News: Britain's train ticket system could be completely overhauled 8 May 2018 at 8:05AM in Public transport & cycling 7 replies 2.3K views

Former_MSE_Callum

The entire train ticketing system could be overhauled after Britain's rail companies and an independent transport watchdog called for radical changes...

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'Britain's train ticket system could be completely overhauled'

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Owain_Moneysaver

Season tickets were originally introduced to reduce the work at booking offices, and were only offered at a significant discount because that was the only way passengers could be persuaded to hand over lots of money in advance.

It's illogical that passengers travelling on the busiest trains get the most discounted fares.

tripled

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

It's illogical that passengers travelling on the busiest trains get the most discounted fares.

Not really. Aside from the fact that advance tickets are generally the cheapest, a 10 carriage commuter service with standing room only and a reliable pre-paid revenue stream will be far more efficient to operate and profitable than an off-peak service with half as many carriages, and empty seats.

VillageIdiot

It is not neccessarily true that the commuter train is more efficient than the off-peak one. If the commuter train only does one return journey per working day, then the depreciation, obsolescence, finance and mobilisation costs of the vehicle per jouney could be much higher than that of the off-peak train making several journeys during each of 363 days of the year. Some off-peak trains cart around a lot more accomodetion than necessary simply because they also act as commuter trains twice a working day. There are so many factors to take into account. It would be interesting to have some data on the costs of each type of train.

xydancer

Anyone who believes any overhaul of the ticketing system will result in cheaper fares for the majority is likely to be sadly disappointed. I note they talk about there being no change in average fares and the results being "revenue neutral." That's easily achieved by heavily cutting the really expensive ones - and balancing it by increasing the cheapest. The result is no change in average fares but actual fares paid by the majority increasing. Don't be surprised if it's 'leisure fares' that suffer and the first to disappear being are cheap advances and cheap off-peak day returns.

k3lvc

xydancer wrote: »

Don't be surprised if it's 'leisure fares' that suffer and the first to disappear being are cheap advances and cheap off-peak day returns.

And in one sentence you've hit the nail on all that is wrong with the UK system. I travel extensively in Europe and particularly in Switzerland where the price is the price - book online or at station, 1 year or 1 minute in advance. Discounts for students, OAPs etc and almost everyone who uses trains pays c.£150 per year for a card allowing half-price tickets. There are occasional offers on specific routes linked to either events or tourist locations that flag up when you try and book a ticket but in general you know what the price is to travel from Lausanne to Zurich.

Owain_Moneysaver

Lausanne to Zurich is only about 100 miles though. The Swiss railway network does not compare to the UK which has some far longer lines and a far higher service frequency with a lot less padding in the timetable.

antrobus

VillageIdiot wrote: »

It is not neccessarily true that the commuter train is more efficient than the off-peak one. If the commuter train only does one return journey per working day, then the depreciation, obsolescence, finance and mobilisation costs of the vehicle per jouney could be much higher than that of the off-peak train making several journeys during each of 363 days of the year. Some off-peak trains cart around a lot more accomodetion than necessary simply because they also act as commuter trains twice a working day. There are so many factors to take into account. It would be interesting to have some data on the costs of each type of train.

On any given line, the 'commuter train' and the 'off-peak train' will be the same blinkin train. The "depreciation, obsolescence, finance and mobilisation costs" of the train set are not materially effected by how many people are in the carriages or why they are travelling.

Your argument makes no sense.

If train operators consider the profitability of a particular journey then they will do so on a marginal basis. Fixed costs such as depreciation and finance aren't necessarily relevant.