Shaw S Hunter
Established Member
One of the problems in this discussion is the tendency to compare rail ticket pricing with that of airlines. It doesn't actually help much because flights are mostly point to point whereas trains mostly are not with intermediate stops complicating the whole process of capacity management vs revenue maximisation. Not to mention the fact that standing on busy trains has been normalised but is forbidden on aircraft. To use airline practices would require the trains covered by the policy to be absolutely restricted to advance purchase only. Technology would certainly allow holders of walk-up tickets to use such services but only if seats are available.
At least up until now the consensus has been that the railways should be available to all on a walk-up basis. Therefore it is difficult to see how the problems being highlighted can be solved without either significant increases in capacity or reduction in genuine walk-up services. And even if only the longest distance services are to be treated differently/separately then a way will need to be found to ensure continuation of services for smaller intermediate flows. As with all discussions about fares reform nobody wants to ask the fundamental questions about just what kind of railway do we want because the answers are almost inevitably expensive or simply unacceptable.
At least up until now the consensus has been that the railways should be available to all on a walk-up basis. Therefore it is difficult to see how the problems being highlighted can be solved without either significant increases in capacity or reduction in genuine walk-up services. And even if only the longest distance services are to be treated differently/separately then a way will need to be found to ensure continuation of services for smaller intermediate flows. As with all discussions about fares reform nobody wants to ask the fundamental questions about just what kind of railway do we want because the answers are almost inevitably expensive or simply unacceptable.