BUYING train tickets could change completely under new proposals from an industry body.
Plans for a sweeping overhaul of rail ticketing across the UK are designed to remove the need to buy split tickets to access the cheapest fares.
The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) has published a series of suggestions of ways to simplify the current system. Its chief executive Paul Plummer said: “Reconfiguring a decades-old system originally designed in an analogue era isn’t simple, but this plan offers a route to get there quickly.
“Ultimately, it is up to governments to pull the levers of change. So this report is a call on them to work with us to update the necessary regulations and subsequently the system of fares.”
The proposals in the Easier Fares For All plan involve a switch to a single-leg pricing structure, which would allow passengers to “mix and match” the types of tickets they buy.
The RDG believes this would reduce the need for passengers to commit to travelling at specific times, and make it easier for them to change plans.
The current regime means some single tickets for long-distance trips are just £1 cheaper than a return.
Single-leg pricing would help with the roll-out of pay-as-you-go systems and the use of mobile phones to pay for travel.
The body is also keen to see regulations around peak and off-peak pricing changed to spread demand for train travel across the day.
So-called split ticketing is currently used by travellers to help them pay less than the price of a single ticket on certain routes.
The loophole involves buying multiple tickets for different sections of one trip.
Some examples of this strategic purchasing include reports of Manchester to Edinburgh costing £92.20, rather than £150, when split at York, and Doncaster to Southampton costing £20 instead of £50 when split at London.
Not all fares would be reduced under the RDG’s plans, which are designed to be “revenue neutral”. Some would increase.
The rail ticketing system in Britain is underpinned by regulations that have not been updated since the mid-1990s – and therefore have not kept up with the rise of technology or changes in how people work and travel.
Complexity has been added through an array of franchise agreements, resulting in about 55 million fares existing, according to the RDG.
The RDG’s latest proposals follow a public consultation that attracted nearly 20,000 responses.
The KPMG survey, commissioned by the railway body, found just one in three (34%) of passengers were “very confident” that they had bought the best value ticket for their most recent journey.
And only 29% of respondents said they were “very satisfied” with the ticket-buying experience.
A spokesperson for Watchdog Transport Focus, which carried out the consultation in partnership with the railway body, welcomed the published proposals and said “the time for piecemeal change has gone”.
A spokesman for the UK’s Department for Transport said: “RDG’s contribution to the Williams Review is welcome.
“In the short term, we are ready to work with the industry on how their proposals might work and be tested in the real world.”
Implementation of plans to change the fares system is expected to start later this year, and could be rolled out across Britain’s different operators over the next three to five years.
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