The proposed removal of affordable, flexible rail tickets in the UK. Don't let them get away with it!

[teuchter]

This is it.

It's run by cunts.

The government.

 

[teuchter]

I can only surmise that the people who run the railway system have an unspoken desire to utterly destroy it.

Personally I see no point in distinguishing between peak and off-peak in terms of pricing - I can see that advance Vs turn up on the day pricing is useful, but I'm not going to die on a hill to protect it.

I'd be interested to see what free/ridiculously cheap (say £20 return from Bristol to Berwick) would cost and what getting rid of the Byzantine ticketing/pricing/revenue protection efforts would save, and what investment would be required to bring our railways up to European standards.

If the trains were reliable and of a similar cost to driving, we'd use them every weekend.

Right, all these things would be nice, but this is specifically about this change. Because at the moment there's no sign politically that we're going to suddenly see lots of investment into the railways. You'd need to put in lots more money to bring fares down. I'd like to see that happen, I'd like to see the whole network including buses massively improved.

None of that is on the cards at the moment. We've just watched HS2 get sabotaged and money diverted to road schemes. That's the reality of things just now.

I am focusing on this pilot scheme because it's an actual real thing that is happening now, with real consequences. But it's also something that there's a real hope of stopping, if enough people protest.

It's being pushed by a government with an anti public transport agenda. It's a little confusing to understand exactly what is changing especially if you're not a regular rail traveller. They know that and hope to get away with it. They want discussions about it to get diverted away onto other more general things. Diverting the discussion onto complaints about general reliability or cost (hopefully with some blame getting shovelled towards the private train companies) is exactly what they want. Everyone can talk about that, whilst ignoring what's being done under their noses, which is an attempt to increase fare prices and reduce flexibility. That's what's happening right now and there is a chance to stop it.

 

[Spymaster]

The government.

Cyclists

 

[kenny g]

I think in an ideal world they'd be paid to run empty trains without having to deal with the inconvenience of passengers.

I've just looked up London - Newcastle which a journey I often buy an off peak single for, to give a bit of flexibility in case my plans change (I usually get an advance ticket going south). Now I'd be paying around the same price (£80ish) for this new ticket which is less flexible, or I'd have to get an anytime single for the bargain price of £192. The conditions aren't clear (where's Bungle when you need him? ) if you need a new reservation if you change trains. If you do then the chances of being able to change things last minute are pretty minute.

This doesn't really seem like progress to me

If you book advance tickets through cross country you can exchange them for other tickets prior to travel without any admin fees: Contact Us and Faqs | CrossCountry

Obviously the price of a different time advance may have gone up (or be unavailable) by then.

 

[Spymaster]

I think in an ideal world they'd be paid to run empty trains without having to deal with the inconvenience of passengers.

I've just looked up London - Newcastle which a journey I often buy an off peak single for, to give a bit of flexibility in case my plans change (I usually get an advance ticket going south). Now I'd be paying around the same price (£80ish) for this new ticket which is less flexible, or I'd have to get an anytime single for the bargain price of £192. The conditions aren't clear (where's Bungle when you need him? ) if you need a new reservation if you change trains. If you do then the chances of being able to change things last minute are pretty minute.

This doesn't really seem like progress to me

Is that a £400 round trip?

£90 or so in diesel - and probably about £400 to fly it...

Christ.

£86 return with BA

 

[neonwilderness]

View attachment 411654

£86 return with BA

And I can decide to change flights 10 minutes before departure with that fare without any fucking about and extra charges like I can with the off peak ticket, yeah?

Also in my case the journey times aren't that much different by the time I factor in getting to/from the airports + check in time. Appreciate that's not the same for everyone though.

 

[teuchter]

With an off peak ticket, you get a 50% refund if the train's more than half an hour late, and 100% if it's more than an hour delay. Something that usually isn't mentioned in cost comparisons. What delay compensation do you get with BA?

 

[Spymaster]

What delay compensation do you get with BA?

Better class of passengers though.

 

[scifisam]

I can only surmise that the people who run the railway system have an unspoken desire to utterly destroy it.

Personally I see no point in distinguishing between peak and off-peak in terms of pricing - I can see that advance Vs turn up on the day pricing is useful, but I'm not going to die on a hill to protect it.

I'd be interested to see what free/ridiculously cheap (say £20 return from Bristol to Berwick) would cost and what getting rid of the Byzantine ticketing/pricing/revenue protection efforts would save, and what investment would be required to bring our railways up to European standards.

If the trains were reliable and of a similar cost to driving, we'd use them every weekend.

The point of off-peak tickets is to encourage people to travel at less busy times. Means more people travelling overall, so more money for the train company, and it's a much better use of the lines and trains.

View attachment 411654

£86 return with BA

Per person, though. Kebabking was comparing the cost of a family of four travelling.

 

[scifisam]

With an off peak ticket, you get a 50% refund if the train's more than half an hour late, and 100% if it's more than an hour delay. Something that usually isn't mentioned in cost comparisons. What delay compensation do you get with BA?

Presumably that's out of the window with this semi-flex ticket too.

 

[teuchter]

Presumably that's out of the window with this semi-flex ticket too.

No I think the same will apply - it applies to pretty much all rail tickets including advance purchase.

 

[scifisam]

No I think the same will apply - it applies to pretty much all rail tickets including advance purchase.

But I bet it would have to be late outside of that 70 minute window, rather than the specific train you're booked on.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

With an off peak ticket, you get a 50% refund if the train's more than half an hour late, and 100% if it's more than an hour delay. Something that usually isn't mentioned in cost comparisons. What delay compensation do you get with BA?

For London to Newcastle, £220, so well over 200%.