Birmingham peak restrictions to remain

[Haywain]

I have just seen an item on TwiX that says that the DfT have vetoed a plan to remove peak restrictions on local services around Birmingham. From Rail Magazine:

Plan to lift Birmingham peak restrictions vetoed by DfT

West Midlands Rail Executive needs Department for Transport permission to end evening peak fare restrictions out of Birmingham.

www.railmagazine.com

A scheme to remove evening peak time restrictions from Birmingham stations has been vetoed by the Department for Transport (DfT) due to overcrowding fears.

The West Midlands Rail Executive (WMRE) has said the scheme is needed to support a simplified ticketing system.

Evening peak fare restrictions out of Birmingham were introduced in 2010 athough the then WMRE, Centro, opposed the move.

The restrictions affect weekday journeys out of Birmingham New Street, Birmingham Snow Hill, Five Ways and Jewellery Quarter between 1635 and 1801.

There are no restrictions for passengers with through tickets changing at those stations, or travelling from busy stations elsewhere in the West Midlands.

Recently, the WMRE developed a package of fare changes to support the introduction of pay-as-you-go ticketing and advocated the removal of the restrictions.

Despite submitting a detailed business case, the DfT rejected the proposal.

A WMRE spokesperson said: “We requested the removal of the evening peak restrictions as it would simplify ticketing across the network, align our rail pricing structure with local bus and Metro fares and avoid confusion for passengers.

“We are supporting the rail industry in its plans to introduce pay-as-you-go ticketing and new rail fares from next year, and this proposal would create an opportunity to deliver further benefits for public transport users in the region.”

However, the DfT has said its conclusion is that the removal of evening peak restrictions in and around Birmingham carries significant risks concerning overcrowding.

A statement said: “This view was consistently held by operators across the WMRE region. It also suggested that available demand and overcrowding data is limited and an agreement was made with WMRE to keep the business case under review until further data is gathered.”

 

[Watershed]

I noted some weeks back (can't find the thread/post now) that the test PAYG fares didn't appear to have evening restrictions in the fares data, which did surprise me.

Evening restrictions present a inherent trade-off when introducing single leg pricing (SLP). You either reduce fares (which increases demand but usually not quite enough to offset the lost revenue), or you add additional evening restrictions for daytrippers. TfGM appear to have accepted the latter when they introduced SLP in anticipation of the rail PAYG launch in their area.

The workaround round it that TfL use, but which doesn't offer the 'simplicity' of pure SLP, is to have an Off-Peak daily cap which applies all day from 09:30.

I don't know what the solution is, but the DfT's claim that it's to avoid overcrowding is obvious nonsense - it's just an excuse to minimise ongoing subsidy. They're just continuing the longstanding tradition of letting Westminster decide what local regions need or deserve.

Moreover, it's within the DfT's gift to address overcrowding in the first place, and in any case the evening restrictions have only ever applied to journeys originating or ending in central Birmingham.

Whilst no doubt this represents a large proportion of rail commuting around the West Midlands, the restrictions are trivially avoided by buying an overdistance ticket. It really doesn't seem like they've put too much thought into this - PAYG will now be more expensive than traditional tickets for many.

 

[JonathanH]

The workaround round it that TfL use, but which doesn't offer the 'simplicity' of pure SLP, is to have an Off-Peak daily cap which applies all day from 09:30.

It isn't a perfect workaround though, as it is Zone 1 centric so assumes that only journeys into central London matter.

In the West Midland context, a similar construct would be favouring travellers into Birmingham rather than one of the other centres.

 

[Watershed]

It isn't a perfect workaround though, as it is Zone 1 centric so assumes that only journeys into central London matter.

In the West Midland context, a similar construct would be favouring travellers into Birmingham rather than one of the other centres.

Yes, a fair point - though non-Zone 1 caps used to exist in TfL's system (they were scrapped to raise revenue under Johnson's Mayorship) and there's no reason that a similar thing couldn't be done by TfWM in theory.

 

[yorksrob]

I have a number of issues with the DfT's position.

As a resident of West Yorkshire we also had pointless evening peak restrictions foisted on us by the Cameron government as a sop to it's austerity policies, so it's interesting that the DfT is perpetuating them.

I assume that as in WYorks these restrictions end at the PTE border, therefore journeys will be comparatively short. I find the pearl clutching of the DfT about overcrowding somewhat curious, given the reluctance to strengthen Cross Country services for example, particularly as overcrowding over long distance routes is inherently more problematic for longer distance journeys. Could it be that the DfT is more interested in revenue than overcrowding ?

Given the current Government's welcome interest in devolution I also find it peculiar that the DfT is rejecting a local transport executives wishes to remove peak restrictions that it didn't approve of in the first place - particularly when this would contribute to the Government's stated aim of fares simplification.

It all seems very strange !

 

[alistairlees]

It’s about money, not crowding.

 

[OscarH]

Could it be that the DfT is more interested in revenue than overcrowding ?

Yes, this is 100% the real reason

The DfT obviously doesn't care about overcrowding given they let XC exist! (Plus I don't believe this will meaningfully affect loadings anyway)

 

[yorksrob]

It’s about money, not crowding.

Yes, this is 100% the real reason

The DfT obviously doesn't care about overcrowding given they let XC exist! (Plus I don't believe this will meaningfully affect loadings anyway)

I must admit, this is as I suspect !

This seems to be in contravention of the devolution agenda, so perhaps some heads will get banged together at the DfT.

 

[Deerfold]

I have a number of issues with the DfT's position.

As a resident of West Yorkshire we also had pointless evening peak restrictions foisted on us by the Cameron government as a sop to it's austerity policies, so it's interesting that the DfT is perpetuating them.

I assume that as in WYorks these restrictions end at the PTE border, therefore journeys will be comparatively short. I find the pearl clutching of the DfT about overcrowding somewhat curious, given the reluctance to strengthen Cross Country services for example, particularly as overcrowding over long distance routes is inherently more problematic for longer distance journeys. Could it be that the DfT is more interested in revenue than overcrowding ?

Given the current Government's welcome interest in devolution I also find it peculiar that the DfT is rejecting a local transport executives wishes to remove peak restrictions that it didn't approve of in the first place - particularly when this would contribute to the Government's stated aim of fares simplification.

It all seems very strange !

It's particularly irritating when doing a journey such as Keighley to Leeds around 1800 on a comparatively quiet train but not the cheaper fares.

 

[yorksrob]

It's particularly irritating when doing a journey such as Keighley to Leeds around 1800 on a comparatively quiet train but not the cheaper fares.

Indeed. There's no real justification for it. Just a sop to the austerity agenda.