Arriva Withdraws SuperSaver Tickets

[Coxster]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6638345.stm

Rail passengers face fare rises of up to a third to travel between regions in Wales with the withdrawal of the cheapest "walk up" train fares.

From 20 May, the equivalent ticket from Bangor to Abergavenny will go up from £49.50 to £66.20 - a 34% increase.

Politicians said Arriva Trains Wales' plans to end 'SuperSaver' fares were a "disgrace" and "unacceptable".

The company said it was offering "new attractive prices" for long distance travel and encouraging advance booking.

Passengers buying SuperSaver tickets have been able to walk straight onto a train and travel relatively cheaply, apart from on Fridays and Saturdays in the summer.

Arriva, which operates many services in Wales and the borders, said sales of the tickets had fallen by 21% over the previous three months.

Nevertheless, AMs believe the cost of buying the nearest equivalent ticket, the Saver, will come as shock to passengers.

The journey from Llandudno to Cardiff will climb 29% from £59.40 to £76.80 and a trip from Aberystwyth to Wrexham will rise 17% from £30.30 to £35.50

Welsh Conservative transport spokesman Alun Cairns warned the price changes would put people off using trains.

He said: "At a time when we are trying to encouraging greater use of public transport these sort of steep price rises are unacceptable.

"Commuters need every incentive to get out of their cars and onto comfortable, reliable trains. Sharply increasing the price of a ticket hardly helps achieve this."

North Wales Liberal Democrat AM Eleanor Burnham called the new prices "a disgrace" and said they demonstrated the weakness of the privatised rail structure.

"The whole set-up is a complete nightmare, we've got to have a look at the franchise to see what we can do.

"We need to ensure we're getting value for money".

Plaid Cymru transport spokesman Alun Ffred Jones said a detailed explanation of the prices was needed.

"These are massive increases, out of all proportion. For the increasing number of people travelling to and from Cardiff this seems unreasonable".

Cheap options

Labour, who are beginning talks with the Lib Dems and Plaid about forming the new assembly government, said Arriva had made a "commercial decision".

But a Labour spokesman said: "Labour intends to deliver its manifesto commitments for the people of Wales.

"We will make further improvements to the north-south rail links and Valleys Lines. Labour will also deliver on introducing a scheme of discounted rail fares for older people."

Arriva commercial director Mike Bagshaw argued the new ticket prices were responding to changes in the market place.

He said: "Arriva Trains Wales new fare structure reflects the way people buy their rail tickets these days.

"For longer journeys people tend to book in advance which is why we have introduced cheap options for north to south travel such as from Bangor or Llandudno Junction to Cardiff from as little as £15 or £9.90 for railcard holders."

A company spokesman added that it would be reviewing its prices again in the autumn.

 

[Nick W]

I wonder what the obsession with AP fares are. It's fare enough if trains are running overloaded, but why can't we have a walk-on ticket the same price of an AP ticket that's valid on all trains not overcrowded, given by a list in the timetable.

Obviously this would require tweaking to get right, and i understand that some trains each side would have to be AP but not overcrowded to prevent it otherwise being overcrowded, but a lot of times trains are under 50% full with AP still being train specific.

 

[175001]

A Shame, as I use them on early morning runs from Bangor to Crewe when connecting to West Coast services. Will only be £2.90 more but still......!

 

[Techniquest]

Here we go then, all of a sudden it's much more expensive to travel again.

When will TOCs learn most people cannot and will not be able to book AP fares when needing to travel!

*Aims shotgun towards Cardiff*

 

[87015]

I wonder what the obsession with AP fares are

make more money....

 

[Nick W]

So with road pricing will we be looking at car drivers booking 3 months in advance for a slot on the M25 and paying £3 to use it at midnight when the street lights are wasted or £300 to use it at rush hour. Or will someone see sense and realise that unlike planes, hotels, and car hire, always usually associasted with going away, people rely on traveling either by car or train far more often, and with less notice.

- Off Peak services are generally half empty – which means the tax payer has to cover costs.

So why can't AP tickets be for a range of services after a particular time range when all trains will be less than 50% full regardless?

Thus, if there is no demand, and lots of available capacity, prices are lowered.

Not by enough to compete with cars at off-peak times it seems, epspeically for families and other groups where the costs of a car are divided out.

 

[Ascot]

In some cases it's just as cheap to buy a ranger/rover the North and Mid Wales day ranger is a good one.

 

[175001]

In some cases it's just as cheap to buy a ranger/rover the North and Mid Wales day ranger is a good one.

Sure is, remember its only valid after 0915 on Weekdays, which sadly is too late for me on most days! Also the earliest train you can get from Bangor using that Rover, is a full 50 minutes later! Ah well, at least I can get some nice weekend action on it! :razz:

 

[Nick W]

Either way, the railways don’t care what you and I think, their job is to maximise revenue to keep franchises, stay in business, pay shareholders and in some case the DfT. If the use of advance purchase tickets maximises revenue that is exactly what they will do.

They could probably maximise revenue by selling X number of cheap tickets over a range of trains then X number of less cheap tickets as the date gets nearer, and still not fill a single one of the trains.

Obviously there's always gonna be some trains you need to be AP specific but the media isn't able to complain for these.