Introducing Simpler Fares

Over the past two years ATOC and all train companies have been working together to develop a simplified fares structure for rail travel throughout Great Britain.

This year changes are being made to fare names and terms & conditions to simplify the range of train tickets available and make it easier for passengers to understand.

Changes will affect advance purchase train tickets from 18 May 2008 and walk-up train tickets from

7 September 2008.

1.1 What is the new fares structure?

The new fare structure groups commonly used single and return train tickets into three categories.

New fare names describe when a train ticket can be purchased or used for travel.

Anytime Buy anytime, travel anytime.

This is the most flexible train ticket customers can buy as there are no time restrictions on when they can travel.

Off-Peak & Super Off-Peak Buy anytime, travel during off-peak periods.

These train tickets offer cheaper fares for travelling when it’s less busy but have restrictions on the times of the day or days of the week that customers can travel. These restrictions are usually during weekday early to mid-morning and weekday early evening.

Advance Buy in advance, subject to availability.

Advance train tickets are single (one-way) fares available for selected journeys, which offer excellent value for money. The earlier customers book the better the range of fares available. Simply mix and match single train tickets for a return journey.

All train tickets can be purchased for travel in Standard and, where available, First Class.

1.2 When will train tickets change?

· From 18 May 2008

All existing advance purchase train ticket types will use a single train ticket name – Advance.

Terms and conditions, including Railcard discounts, will be the same for all Advance fares.

· From 7 September 2008

All existing ordinary Standard and First Class walk-up fares will be renamed:

- Walk-up train tickets will be renamed Anytime train tickets, with Day added if they have one day validity. For example, Standard Open Returns will become Standard Anytime Returns, whilst First Class Day Singles will become First Class Anytime Day Singles.

- Cheaper train tickets with travel restrictions will be renamed Off-Peak train tickets, with Day added if they have one day validity.

- Where there is more than one Off-Peak period or day train ticket of the same class available for a particular journey, the cheaper one will be known as a Super Off-Peak train ticket.

When train companies introduce new fares that fall within the simplified Anytime, Off-Peak and Advance categories, they will follow this structure.

1.3 What train tickets are not included?

A number of train tickets are not included in this simplified structure and will remain the same. These include:

· Season train tickets (unchanged from now) including Earlybird/Flexi Seasons and Carnet train tickets;

· TfL area Travelcards, PTE specific fares and Local Authority sponsored fares;

· Smartcard and Smart Media fares (including Oyster);

· Group fares including GroupSave, Family Travelcard and TOC specific Group discounts;

· Rover and Ranger fares;

· Weekend First upgrades;

· Promotional fares (special fares limited by duration, destination or distribution);

· Packaged fares involving additional services such as car parking, catering, buses etc;

· Penalty fares;

· Continental fares;

· Sleeper fares;

· Experimental fares that may eventually become part of the core structure (currently Megatrain falls into this category);

· Special Fares including: Inclusive Tour fares; Conference Travel; Group Travel fares; Scholars’ Season Train ticket fares; Motorail fares; System Passes; Airline Sales; Special Trains fares; Foreign Language Student fares; Staff Travel fares; Rail-Sea-Rail fares; Oil Industry Off-shore Return fares.

1.4 Why the change?

Customer feedback suggested that because of the range of different train tickets available it isn’t always easy to find the best value train ticket to match their needs.

The new fares structure simplifies the choice for customers, allowing then to choose their rail train tickets with more confidence.

1.5 Will fares increase as a result of these changes?

No, fares will not increase as a result of the new fares structure.

 

1.6 What are the benefits for the customer?

· Train ticket names are easier to understand

The new names help to describe when customers can buy train tickets or when they can use train tickets, making it easier for them to decide what train ticket suits their needs.

· Fewer train ticket names

Everyone wants to the get the best value train ticket for their rail journey, so with fewer train ticket names to understand the customer can quickly work out what train ticket they need to make their journey.

· Common terms & conditions

Advance train ticket terms and conditions have been standardised across all train companies nationwide.

· New Railcard discounts

Railcard discounts have been extended to Advance fares. National Railcard holders save 1/3 on fares for all Standard Class train tickets and some Railcard holders can also save 1/3 on some First Class fares on selected journeys.

1.7 How will this affect the selling of train tickets?

The changes have been carefully planned to work with existing train ticket issuing and journey information systems.

However, during the run-up to the changeover, various systems will cope differently with the need to display different terms and conditions for the same fare, depending on whether it is valid for use before or after changeover dates.

Section 3.0 of this brief provides train ticket issuing systems (TIS) information and instructions for the introduction of Advance train tickets.

Further TIS information and instructions will be provided before the introduction of Anytime and Off-Peak train tickets.

1.8 What information will there be for customers?

· Customer Leaflet – Introducing Simpler Fares

A customer leaflet has been developed to provide an overview of the new train ticket structure, emphasise the benefits to customers and detail the changes to Advance fares from May 2008. This leaflet will be distributed to stations and other retailers in advance of 24th April launch and can be racked or given out to customers from the 24th April.

· National Rail website

The National Rail website will have a section dedicated to communicating the new train ticket structure, emphasise the benefits to customers and detail the new Advance train tickets. This section will be accessible via the URL - www.nationalrail.co.uk/simplefares - and the National Rail homepage.

· Station Poster

Double Royal size posters will introduce the new train ticket structure and will be made available for display at stations and other retail outlets from 24th April.

 

· Advance Conditions Cards

An Advance train ticket Conditions Card has been developed to explain the terms and conditions to customers. These cards will be distributed to all stations, telesales and third party retailers in advance of 24th April launch. A Conditions Card should be given to all customers who buy an Advance train ticket.

 

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