I put other.
I think Railcards should be abolished. People can still take advantage of discounts, just without the faff and cost of buying and carrying a Railcard beforehand. There may be a couple of Railcards which make sense to retain due to eligibility proof, but on the whole passengers should be able to take advantage of discounted fares without buying a Railcard in advance. This will also reduce the need for penalties when people's Railcards expire or whatever.
The complexity of the fares system need reducing. There will always be some complexity, but the current state of affairs is absurd.
When I travel between Wales and Scotland, split tickets can save over 50%.
26-30 Railcards have a minimum fare of £12 before 10am on weekdays, but TVMs instead of selling an £8 undiscounted ticket will offer a £12 'discounted' ticket.
16-25 Railcards also have a minimum fare of £12 before 10am on weekdays... except in July and August. So a 25 year old gets a cheaper ticket on their morning commute in the summer, while a 26 year old doesn't.
Actually age-based railcards are valid for a fixed period at the time of purchase, so a 26-30 Railcard is actually valid until the day before your 32nd birthday.
The legislation makes it an offence to travel on a 16-25 ticket when you hold a 26-30 Railcard even though the price is the same. This is stupid, to the point that the regulator had to intervene to stop people being taken to court for criminal offences when the railway wasn't even losing money.
That's before we even get into split tickets, rovers, GroupSave, TOC-specific group discounts, rangers, regional Railcards, SuperFares, ScotRail Kids For A Quid, Club Avanti, LNER cashback, the fact that mature students can get a 16-25 railcard, Scotland NEC, Unizones, GTR money back guarantee, XC feeless Advance ticket changes, PlusBus, Nothern Duo, gold cards, RailMaster, Rail & Sail, flexipasses, GA pregnant passenger first class upgrades, SeatFrog, carnets, season tickets, flexi passes, etc etc.
Some on the forums will challenge this view and say well how would you reduce complexity without raising fares, but I'm not a fares expert. I'm an ordinary passenger with a higher than average interest in train travel, who gets asked by friends and family all the time about finding the best fares and even I struggle, so the average passenger is often getting shafted in favour of a fares system which requires a PhD to find the best value in.
If the government is serious about helping the cost of living, and the climate crisis, then reducing fares on underutilised services would make sense, and probably even generate a net positive income position. On some services the limited size of the train also puts people off - I was out and about during the Edinburgh Fringe last year staying along the Borders railway line, and ScotRail and still punting 3 carriage services on the normal schedule, when all of the platforms can accommodate 6 carriages, possibly even 7, though they tend to be 2x3 car services when they do run them. The trains were absolutely rammed, which is good in that clearly people are opting for public transport, but I was also considering driving or taking the bus because train services when you're packed in like sardines in the height of summer are not comfortable. Whether they buy/lease more rolling stock, or they temporarily rent it from a charter company or whatever, they need more of it. It's the same along the north Wales coast line during the summer when people are heading to the beaches and caravan parks for their holidays; the trains are absolutely rammed, and 1h+ journeys stood in crowds on trains with poor AC is just not very attractive, and again, I'd be considering driving.
