GWR fare changes from 6th September 2020

[yorkie]

These upcoming changes may affect, or be of interest to, some people on here...

Restriction changes:

• London & Thames Valley time restrictions altered at Twyford, Maidenhead, Slough

General re-pricing changes:

• Reduction of super off peak fares from Taunton, Devon and Cornwall stations to Reading
• Reduction of fares from the Basingstoke Branch to London Terminals
• Removal of the "via Reading" walk-up products priced between Banbury and Paddington. These are replaced with a competitive range of Advance fares

New products and offers

• Flexi Seasons fulfilled via SMART - Trial of flexible season tickets on a number of flows...

 

[David Goddard]

Wow that is quite harsh on Banbury users- a £20 increase for walk up day trippers.
Current Off Peak Day Return via Reading is £29.50, after the changes the cheapest walk up will be the Travelcard at £48.60.
For the Anytime Day Return of £68.60, that will then have to be the Travelcard at £88.70.
Are they trying to price people away and encourage them to use Chiltern instead maybe?

 

[JonathanH]

That change from Banbury to Paddington appears to be the work of someone quite mean and represents a substantial increase in fares for travelling via Reading at off peak times - for example a off-peak day return from Banbury to Paddington travelling at 0854 arriving at 1012 is currently £29.50. It will now be £84.70 to get a walk up fare for those times, £45.10 at 0936 and not reducing to £32.30 until 1054.

The replacement advance fares appear to be 'GWR and connections' but on the date I looked at CrossCountry don't appear to be providing a quota for their services.

 

[Wallsendmag]

Another way to think of it is if every train requires a reservation (I know GWR aren't there yet) and Advance are available until departure why not buy advance rather than a single. Haven't people wanted a move to Single Leg Pricing?

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Another way to think of it is if every train requires a reservation (I know GWR aren't there yet) and Advance are available until departure why not buy advance rather than a single. Haven't people wanted a move to Single Leg Pricing?

What are the odds that an Advance ticket is going to be consistently available for £14.30 each way, year round? I don't think so. The recent crisis, with the wholesale (effective) abolition of Advances on many routes, has shown that Advances simply cannot be relied upon as a justification for ditching affordable walk-up fares.

That's quite to ignore the fact that you're highly unlikely to get a cheap (if any) GWR & connections Advance involving a XC service. So effectively they're restricting the Banbury to London via Reading route to being affordable only on the direct morning and evening extras, which aren't even running at the moment. And that's assuming they uphold their promises...

Unfortunately train companies are seemingly only prepared to move to single leg pricing if it means they can massively increase fares and/or ratchet up restrictions. See for example the predictably problematic ECML SLP trial, and Avanti's replacement of good 50% SVH fares with virtually pointless 70% SVS fares.

Of course the DfT is more than happy with that as it means less subsidy for the railways and more assurances over loading. The beleaguered passenger suffers, but hey - who cares, it's just a 1:1 scale model railway, after all, right?

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

for example a off-peak day return from Banbury to Paddington travelling at 0854 arriving at 1012 is currently £29.50. It will now be £84.70 to get a walk up fare for those times

Minor point of correction, the Off-Peak Return route Any Permitted, costing £45.10, will be valid for such an itinerary. Still, an increase of "just" 50% is nothing to be celebrating.

 

[JonathanH]

Minor point of correction, the Off-Peak Return route Any Permitted, costing £45.10, will be valid for such an itinerary. Still, an increase of "just" 50% is nothing to be celebrating.

Yes, it appears that it should be valid on the basis of arriving at Paddington after 1000 but there is a not from Banbury restriction before 0906 in the 'unpublished restrictions' which meant it didn't appear in the booking engine I checked (and that of course is what the passenger looking up the cost of the journey will see).

 

[Hadders]

What are the odds that an Advance ticket is going to be consistently available for £14.30 each way, year round? I don't think so. The recent crisis, with the wholesale (effective) abolition of Advances on many routes, has shown that Advances simply cannot be relied upon as a justification for ditching affordable walk-up fares.

That's quite to ignore the fact that you're highly unlikely to get a cheap (if any) GWR & connections Advance involving a XC service. So effectively they're restricting the Banbury to London via Reading route to being affordable only on the direct morning and evening extras, which aren't even running at the moment. And that's assuming they uphold their promises...

Unfortunately train companies are seemingly only prepared to move to single leg pricing if it means they can massively increase fares and/or ratchet up restrictions. See for example the predictably problematic ECML SLP trial, and Avanti's replacement of good 50% SVH fares with virtually pointless 70% SVS fares.

Of course the DfT is more than happy with that as it means less subsidy for the railways and more assurances over loading. The beleaguered passenger suffers, but hey - who cares, it's just a 1:1 scale model railway, after all, right?

The abolition of good value walk on fares and replacement with Advance fares is nothing to celebrate. Advance fares can be here today, gone tomorrow. There is no visibility of how many cheap Advance fares there actually are. For all we know there might only be 2 offered for sale on every train.

 

[autotank]

Where are the details of the time restriction changes for Twyford, Maidenhead and Slough please. Also will they affect the branches?

 

[Sleepy]

West Country - Reading fare price reduction isn't currently showing on GWR booking engine.

 

[alistairlees]

West Country - Reading fare price reduction isn't currently showing on GWR booking engine.

What, specifically, is not showing?

 

[Sleepy]

Sample check for Cornwall stations and Exeter to Reading for Super off peak return produces same prices before & after 6th September ?

 

[Bletchleyite]

The abolition of good value walk on fares and replacement with Advance fares is nothing to celebrate. Advance fares can be here today, gone tomorrow. There is no visibility of how many cheap Advance fares there actually are. For all we know there might only be 2 offered for sale on every train.

Don't worry, Chiltern will be sitting giggling in the corner

 

[MikeWh]

There are also changes to Heathrow Express fares at the same time. The £22 off-peak single is being withdrawn so the £25 anytime single will be the only walk up fare available. This applies to both cash and oyster/contactless cards.