*Neil Lancefield and Max Kendix , February 16 2024, The Times*
**Fares have gone up because of the removal of super off-peak tickets**
A trial to simplify train fares is adding more than £100 to the cost of some journeys on one of Britain’s busiest railway lines.
The price increase was revealed by analysis of tickets sold by the government-owned operator London North Eastern Railway (LNER) for travel on the East Coast Main Line that links Scotland to London. This follows the introduction of a two-year trial advertised as offering “simpler fares”.
The campaign group Railfuture said that the scheme was awful, and the train travel website Seat61.com claimed it had been designed to “allow big price increases”.
LNER pledged to “make adjustments so that as many people as possible can access the right ticket at the right price”.
Under the trial, the cheapest available tickets for some single journeys between Edinburgh and London King’s Cross have increased from £87 to £193.90 if bought on the day of travel.
Similar rises were found for journeys between London King’s Cross and Newcastle and Berwick-upon-Tweed.
The pilot, which was implemented earlier this month, is limited to those three routes but could be rolled out across the network if deemed successful.
The price rise has been caused by the removal of super off-peak fares, which were the cheapest tickets that could be used on several departures during traditionally quieter periods without needing to be bought in advance.
The PA news agency analysed prices for services that could previously be travelled on by holders of those tickets, which cost between £83.80 and £87 depending on the route.
For some services booked on the day of travel the lowest priced available tickets are now fully flexible Anytime fares priced between £192.80 and £193.90.
Most services have cheaper options available — either fixed Advance tickets or new semi-flexible 70min Flex tickets — but in some cases these fares are higher than the super off-peak prices.
Neil Middleton, director of Railfuture, said: “The removal of the super off-peak ticket is an awful move. Just the possibility or having to pay over £192 for a railway ticket to travel between King’s Cross and Newcastle is enough to put you off travelling by train, possibly forever.
“Yes, it is quite possible to travel for a lot less, but if you need to travel unexpectedly or travel plans change, these are eye-watering prices to pay. I think they are well beyond tolerable for most people’s wallets and indeed most companies’ expense claims.”
Middleton said the flexibility offered by the 70min Flex fare is “a real benefit” but he expressed concern that “the ticket may not be available when I want to travel”. He urged LNER to reinstate super off-peak fares but continue with the rest of the trial.
Train operators are under increasing pressure from the Department for Transport (DfT) to increase revenue in an attempt to reduce taxpayer-funded subsidies.
Mark Smith, founder of Seat61.com, said: “It’s now pretty clear to everyone that the LNER fares ‘simplification’ was a smokescreen for removing the off-peak fare to allow big price increases.
“I now suspect DfT is behind this. As a trial simplification for passengers it has already failed and should not be extended.”
He said that people travelling from London King’s Cross to Edinburgh at short-notice could get a “better deal” if they buy an £87 super off-peak ticket to Haymarket, one station beyond Edinburgh.
Those tickets, which are still available because Haymarket is not part of the trial, permit a break of journey, meaning passengers can end their trip at Edinburgh and save 55 per cent compared with the £193.90 Anytime fare.
An LNER spokesman said: “Since the pilot launched, the majority of customers who have bought Advance tickets have paid less than the old super off-peak fare.
“There will, from time to time, be traditionally classified off-peak trains where advance tickets have sold out and a more expensive anytime ticket is the only option on popular services.
“However, the pilot will see even more advance and 70min flex tickets being available up to the day of travel. We’ll continue to monitor and will make adjustments so that as many people as possible can access the right ticket at the right price for them.”
The operator added that before the trial, the percentage of fares purchased on the routes that were super off-peak was 11 per cent. It believes the new pricing system will more closely reflect demand and lead to fewer instances of overcrowding.
A DfT spokesman said: “LNER’s trial is part of a long-standing commitment to simplify complicated ticketing which can often put people off taking the train.
“Through this, the majority of passengers on these routes will find fares to be the same or cheaper than the old super off-peak fare.”
Guy Hobbs, travel expert at consumer group Which?, said: “It will be incredibly frustrating to passengers if a scheme proposed to simplify the ticket purchasing process is sneaking in price hikes by the back door.
“Super Off-Peak fares are usually the best value, so it’s essential that LNER looks at making changes to ensure this new scheme offers travellers equally competitive prices.”
So instead of paying £100 for a ticket I now have to pay £200
This country is a joke…why can’t we be like Europe??!! They have some of the best tram and train services and cheap! It’s ridiculous that we all drive because it’s cheaper!!!!
“great news were going to simplify train fares, by simply making it unaffordable”
Changing how train fares work is not necessarily bad.
However, ticket price rises are limited. And the only way to get around that is to change the system. So any change initiated by the railway operating companies will aim to increase prices as much as possible. This example is a perfect illustration of that.
In this case, you could rent a car and drive for significantly less.
Privatisation has surely failed dismally. John Major is to blame is he not?
Why can’t it be like taxi fares. It could be so simple.
Something like
£2 regardless of distance. 25p per mile on top.
Peak would add 30% to both of these.
Return is 50% more.
Well, it’s simple. You people are never happy 🤷♂️
A round trip to my office in London costs me £45. Driving there and coming back costs me £7 of diesel. Even with a congestion charge, I make a saving when I go. Parking is inside premises, so free. F the environment. Long live my diesel car.
I can’t read the article with fucking subscribing. This country has gone to shit!
It’s insane that people here were defending getting rid of super off peak tickets like this.
These morons really thought it would ‘make it cheaper for some of us’.
A bit off topic but to do with trains. I commute by train to work. I’ve been doing this for 13 years but decided to start claiming back compensation to delayed or cancelled trains 6 years ago when I got fed up with them. I’ve made over 170 claims in the the 6 years of claiming back compensation. Our train services are a joke.
And they wonder why people still choose to drive. Extortionate prices and still not guaranteed a seat
In 2020 at Christmas I had booked First Class LNER (I always do) from London to Edinburgh, which I cancelled due to lockdown. The entire round trip was about £175.
Christmas 2023, the exact same journey on the exact same timetabled services would have been… £300. I went Standard instead, and thankfully due to the weather-related chaos I got a 100% refund on the outbound leg.
That is an explosive price increase. I’m now at the point where it feels like it’s becoming quite unaffordable to visit my family.
I’m travelling to London for work next week. Ticket was £220. Ridiculous for a journey that only takes a couple of hours.
That’s how they always solved every problem.
Trains are overcrowded? ~~Put more trains on the line~~ RAISE THE TICKET PRICES.
Not enough passengers on some lines? ~~Adjust the number of carts and keep fares fair, so more people take them~~ RAISE THE TICKET PRICES!
Fewer people take trains and prefer cars and buses? ~~At least attempt to be competitive so people who prefer comfort switch to trains~~ RAISE THE TICKET PRICES!
Fares are too complicated? ~~Simplify them, come up with fair unified pricing per fare and make fares convenient for passengers~~ RAISE THE TICKET PRICES!
Then they wonder why places further out from London get left behind and house prices are so high in London…
Well making it so nobody can afford to use it is simpler.
Choking the nation’s ability to travel is bad for us all even for those who don’t intend to travel.
They’ll charge more for the same shoddy service.
Yesterday Kings Cross Leeds train was changed at short notice form an Azuma to the older style train (which I prefer anyway). All seat bookings were cancelled and it was a free for all in 2nd class. The added smell of hot brakes throughout the train was a nice touch too.
While I’m here, who the hell designed the Azuma seats? Awful and uncomfortable are the only two words you need to describe them.
I find this so nuts. When I lived in Switzerland there were two prices for the train ticket. Didn’t matter when you bought the ticket it was a fixed rate. 30 seconds or 30 days before your train left and it did t matter which train you caught.
The second price was if you bought a yearly “half price” card for about £100 which you would get a ticket for half price. Again didn’t matter when you bought it.
It was so damn easy
Trains and everyone involved in rail in this country utterly disgust me.
I nearly fell over when I found out you could get an oyster card equivalent that covered travel to the whole network in the Netherlands. Imagine how better off our economy would be if our rail network wasn’t crap.
Train companies soon: “Good news, we’ve simplified your ticket price… by rounding up to the nearest £1000”
Meanwhile you can go from Warsaw to Berlin for about £30.
Compare to germanys freedom card – €50 per month for unlimited travel on the local trains…
Had to get tickets to go this week to Scotland on LNER. It is definitely getting more expensive (not helped by the fact Kings Cross is closed Saturday to Tuesday), even when bought in advance.
Given tickets were already amongst the most expensive in Europe, it does feel unfair.
We’ve simply decided to stop *pretending* we’re not fucking you in the arse and just do it openly.
Yep, they have “Instead of booking an open return, just pay for the single when you know when you’re coming back” on one poster and
“Buy your tickets more than 2 weeks in advance for the best rates”
So.. yeah.. ‘fuck you’ basically.
Should be 300. Those workers aren’t going to pay themselves.
31 comments
Article contents:
*Neil Lancefield and Max Kendix , February 16 2024, The Times*
**Fares have gone up because of the removal of super off-peak tickets**
A trial to simplify train fares is adding more than £100 to the cost of some journeys on one of Britain’s busiest railway lines.
The price increase was revealed by analysis of tickets sold by the government-owned operator London North Eastern Railway (LNER) for travel on the East Coast Main Line that links Scotland to London. This follows the introduction of a two-year trial advertised as offering “simpler fares”.
The campaign group Railfuture said that the scheme was awful, and the train travel website Seat61.com claimed it had been designed to “allow big price increases”.
LNER pledged to “make adjustments so that as many people as possible can access the right ticket at the right price”.
Under the trial, the cheapest available tickets for some single journeys between Edinburgh and London King’s Cross have increased from £87 to £193.90 if bought on the day of travel.
Similar rises were found for journeys between London King’s Cross and Newcastle and Berwick-upon-Tweed.
The pilot, which was implemented earlier this month, is limited to those three routes but could be rolled out across the network if deemed successful.
The price rise has been caused by the removal of super off-peak fares, which were the cheapest tickets that could be used on several departures during traditionally quieter periods without needing to be bought in advance.
The PA news agency analysed prices for services that could previously be travelled on by holders of those tickets, which cost between £83.80 and £87 depending on the route.
For some services booked on the day of travel the lowest priced available tickets are now fully flexible Anytime fares priced between £192.80 and £193.90.
Most services have cheaper options available — either fixed Advance tickets or new semi-flexible 70min Flex tickets — but in some cases these fares are higher than the super off-peak prices.
Neil Middleton, director of Railfuture, said: “The removal of the super off-peak ticket is an awful move. Just the possibility or having to pay over £192 for a railway ticket to travel between King’s Cross and Newcastle is enough to put you off travelling by train, possibly forever.
“Yes, it is quite possible to travel for a lot less, but if you need to travel unexpectedly or travel plans change, these are eye-watering prices to pay. I think they are well beyond tolerable for most people’s wallets and indeed most companies’ expense claims.”
Middleton said the flexibility offered by the 70min Flex fare is “a real benefit” but he expressed concern that “the ticket may not be available when I want to travel”. He urged LNER to reinstate super off-peak fares but continue with the rest of the trial.
Train operators are under increasing pressure from the Department for Transport (DfT) to increase revenue in an attempt to reduce taxpayer-funded subsidies.
Mark Smith, founder of Seat61.com, said: “It’s now pretty clear to everyone that the LNER fares ‘simplification’ was a smokescreen for removing the off-peak fare to allow big price increases.
“I now suspect DfT is behind this. As a trial simplification for passengers it has already failed and should not be extended.”
He said that people travelling from London King’s Cross to Edinburgh at short-notice could get a “better deal” if they buy an £87 super off-peak ticket to Haymarket, one station beyond Edinburgh.
Those tickets, which are still available because Haymarket is not part of the trial, permit a break of journey, meaning passengers can end their trip at Edinburgh and save 55 per cent compared with the £193.90 Anytime fare.
An LNER spokesman said: “Since the pilot launched, the majority of customers who have bought Advance tickets have paid less than the old super off-peak fare.
“There will, from time to time, be traditionally classified off-peak trains where advance tickets have sold out and a more expensive anytime ticket is the only option on popular services.
“However, the pilot will see even more advance and 70min flex tickets being available up to the day of travel. We’ll continue to monitor and will make adjustments so that as many people as possible can access the right ticket at the right price for them.”
The operator added that before the trial, the percentage of fares purchased on the routes that were super off-peak was 11 per cent. It believes the new pricing system will more closely reflect demand and lead to fewer instances of overcrowding.
A DfT spokesman said: “LNER’s trial is part of a long-standing commitment to simplify complicated ticketing which can often put people off taking the train.
“Through this, the majority of passengers on these routes will find fares to be the same or cheaper than the old super off-peak fare.”
Guy Hobbs, travel expert at consumer group Which?, said: “It will be incredibly frustrating to passengers if a scheme proposed to simplify the ticket purchasing process is sneaking in price hikes by the back door.
“Super Off-Peak fares are usually the best value, so it’s essential that LNER looks at making changes to ensure this new scheme offers travellers equally competitive prices.”
So instead of paying £100 for a ticket I now have to pay £200
This country is a joke…why can’t we be like Europe??!! They have some of the best tram and train services and cheap! It’s ridiculous that we all drive because it’s cheaper!!!!
“great news were going to simplify train fares, by simply making it unaffordable”
Changing how train fares work is not necessarily bad.
However, ticket price rises are limited. And the only way to get around that is to change the system. So any change initiated by the railway operating companies will aim to increase prices as much as possible. This example is a perfect illustration of that.
In this case, you could rent a car and drive for significantly less.
Privatisation has surely failed dismally. John Major is to blame is he not?
Why can’t it be like taxi fares. It could be so simple.
Something like
£2 regardless of distance. 25p per mile on top.
Peak would add 30% to both of these.
Return is 50% more.
Well, it’s simple. You people are never happy 🤷♂️
A round trip to my office in London costs me £45. Driving there and coming back costs me £7 of diesel. Even with a congestion charge, I make a saving when I go. Parking is inside premises, so free. F the environment. Long live my diesel car.
I can’t read the article with fucking subscribing. This country has gone to shit!
> [A spokesperson said, “this is the one thing we didn’t want to happen”](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q-U2THOF00)
It was always a scam.
It’s insane that people here were defending getting rid of super off peak tickets like this.
These morons really thought it would ‘make it cheaper for some of us’.
A bit off topic but to do with trains. I commute by train to work. I’ve been doing this for 13 years but decided to start claiming back compensation to delayed or cancelled trains 6 years ago when I got fed up with them. I’ve made over 170 claims in the the 6 years of claiming back compensation. Our train services are a joke.
And they wonder why people still choose to drive. Extortionate prices and still not guaranteed a seat
In 2020 at Christmas I had booked First Class LNER (I always do) from London to Edinburgh, which I cancelled due to lockdown. The entire round trip was about £175.
Christmas 2023, the exact same journey on the exact same timetabled services would have been… £300. I went Standard instead, and thankfully due to the weather-related chaos I got a 100% refund on the outbound leg.
That is an explosive price increase. I’m now at the point where it feels like it’s becoming quite unaffordable to visit my family.
I’m travelling to London for work next week. Ticket was £220. Ridiculous for a journey that only takes a couple of hours.
That’s how they always solved every problem.
Trains are overcrowded? ~~Put more trains on the line~~ RAISE THE TICKET PRICES.
Not enough passengers on some lines? ~~Adjust the number of carts and keep fares fair, so more people take them~~ RAISE THE TICKET PRICES!
Fewer people take trains and prefer cars and buses? ~~At least attempt to be competitive so people who prefer comfort switch to trains~~ RAISE THE TICKET PRICES!
Fares are too complicated? ~~Simplify them, come up with fair unified pricing per fare and make fares convenient for passengers~~ RAISE THE TICKET PRICES!
Then they wonder why places further out from London get left behind and house prices are so high in London…
Well making it so nobody can afford to use it is simpler.
Choking the nation’s ability to travel is bad for us all even for those who don’t intend to travel.
They’ll charge more for the same shoddy service.
Yesterday Kings Cross Leeds train was changed at short notice form an Azuma to the older style train (which I prefer anyway). All seat bookings were cancelled and it was a free for all in 2nd class. The added smell of hot brakes throughout the train was a nice touch too.
While I’m here, who the hell designed the Azuma seats? Awful and uncomfortable are the only two words you need to describe them.
I find this so nuts. When I lived in Switzerland there were two prices for the train ticket. Didn’t matter when you bought the ticket it was a fixed rate. 30 seconds or 30 days before your train left and it did t matter which train you caught.
The second price was if you bought a yearly “half price” card for about £100 which you would get a ticket for half price. Again didn’t matter when you bought it.
It was so damn easy
Trains and everyone involved in rail in this country utterly disgust me.
I nearly fell over when I found out you could get an oyster card equivalent that covered travel to the whole network in the Netherlands. Imagine how better off our economy would be if our rail network wasn’t crap.
Train companies soon: “Good news, we’ve simplified your ticket price… by rounding up to the nearest £1000”
Meanwhile you can go from Warsaw to Berlin for about £30.
Compare to germanys freedom card – €50 per month for unlimited travel on the local trains…
Had to get tickets to go this week to Scotland on LNER. It is definitely getting more expensive (not helped by the fact Kings Cross is closed Saturday to Tuesday), even when bought in advance.
Given tickets were already amongst the most expensive in Europe, it does feel unfair.
We’ve simply decided to stop *pretending* we’re not fucking you in the arse and just do it openly.
Yep, they have “Instead of booking an open return, just pay for the single when you know when you’re coming back” on one poster and
“Buy your tickets more than 2 weeks in advance for the best rates”
So.. yeah.. ‘fuck you’ basically.
Should be 300. Those workers aren’t going to pay themselves.