Interesting Survey

[MikeWh]

I've just completed a survey for ATOC after I purchased a new family and friends railcard. After asking extensive questions about my use of rail over the last 12 months it then went on to suggest some products that it might introduce in the near future. They are:

Couples Railcard: £26 for two named people with photo(s) on card giving 34% off travel in the off-peak.
3+ Ticket: 34% off travel for 3-4 people in the off-peak with no-charge for a card.
Adult+Child: One named adult with photo otherwise pretty similar to the family and friends (ie other adults/children can travel too). Usual discounts (34%/60%). £26 cost, but, then they went on to suggest that the same card might allow two adults to travel together without a child for the slightly higher cost of £35.

I hope I didn't miss the small print on the survey saying that I mustn't talk about it's contents with anyone else.

 

[Greenback]

Well, the Couples Railcard would be very good for Mrs G and myself...I won;t hold my breath though!

 

[John @ home]

The February 2010 result of a previous ATOC survey on railcards is here. It's in horrible marketing-speak and contains basic inaccuracies such as

Railcards give you at least one third discount on all UK train travel.

and

All Railcards cost £26.00

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Well, the Couples Railcard would be very good for Mrs G and myself...I won;t hold my breath though!

There's already a very poorly advertised scheme like this from Northern which offers 25% discount when 2 adults travel together. Its called Northern Duo.
Its not a railcard, its just a 50% discount on the second person's fare.

 

[spacehopper]

There's already a very poorly advertised scheme like this from Northern which offers 25% discount when 2 adults travel together. Its called Northern Duo.
Its not a railcard, its just a 50% discount on the second person's fare.

You haven't seen the latest Duo "Dinosaur" adds then? Northern do promote it lots of Northern units and Northern run booking offices have the current posters up. Duo is not available network wide just on selected lines and flows, you don't even have to travel on a Northern service- Duo can be used on other TOCs. The ticket is certainly well known among regular passengers as they ask for it by name. If you get a nice customer focused employee who knows how to do their job they'll even sell it to two people who are just making a single journey.

 

[WatcherZero]

To be fair there is quite often posters up advertising the duo, but they get drowned out of the rotation at stations with fewer information boards.

 

[embers25]

I got a similar survey last week about my Network Card asking if I'd be ok with it either being abolished, increased to £35 or with the minimum fare bbeing raised from £13 to £20. It too then gave me all those couples railcard options as possible replacements which are hardly the same given I normally always travel for part of my journey alone. Also the idea that the 2 people have to be named makes it even less useful as my eventual companion isn't always the same person. Sounds to me like the TOC's have finally figured out that abolishing railcards and replacing them with totally useless ones is a cunning way of making more money without higher profile fare increases (even though we'll get those as well!) I'm surprised the papers (particularly the Standard and Metro) haven't got hold of this yet and aren't already launching a save the Network Card campaign as whilst this is only a survey it is only a matter of time before ATOC try it.

 

[janb]

You haven't seen the latest Duo "Dinosaur" adds then? Northern do promote it lots of Northern units and Northern run booking offices have the current posters up. Duo is not available network wide just on selected lines and flows, you don't even have to travel on a Northern service- Duo can be used on other TOCs. The ticket is certainly well known among regular passengers as they ask for it by name. If you get a nice customer focused employee who knows how to do their job they'll even sell it to two people who are just making a single journey.

Yeah, I think Duo is pretty well promoted with posters, leaflets, and we always offer it if cheapest option including to "2 singles please" customers. We have Americans come and call it "buddy pass" which I always think is a very cute name for it.

 

[Mojo]

Is this 3+ ticket not just Groupsave, which offers a 1/3 discount for groups of 3, and a 50% discount for groups of 4? Admittedly not currently available for all Tocs but it would still be a step backwards to see the discount reduced.

Tocs, particularly those in London and the South East (L&SE) need to do more to increase loadings on their off peak services which have huge amounts of capacity left idle during the day but which are absolutely jam packed in peak hours. I'd say that by and large having consistent loadings across the day rather than jammed trains in peaks and dead trains off peak is something that Intercity operators (First class excepted) and Regional operators have done better in than L&SE Tocs.

 

[Greenback]

I got a similar survey last week about my Network Card asking if I'd be ok with it either being abolished, increased to £35 or with the minimum fare bbeing raised from £13 to £20. It too then gave me all those couples railcard options as possible replacements which are hardly the same given I normally always travel for part of my journey alone. Also the idea that the 2 people have to be named makes it even less useful as my eventual companion isn't always the same person. Sounds to me like the TOC's have finally figured out that abolishing railcards and replacing them with totally useless ones is a cunning way of making more money without higher profile fare increases (even though we'll get those as well!) I'm surprised the papers (particularly the Standard and Metro) haven't got hold of this yet and aren't already launching a save the Network Card campaign as whilst this is only a survey it is only a matter of time before ATOC try it.

Embers, the Network Card is of no use to us, as we live outside the area! A Couples Raiclard probably would be useful, but without seeing the offer, there is no way to be absolutely sure!

I have no wish to see the Network Card abolished, or watered down any more than it already has been. But it would be nice for other parts of the country to get soemthing similar.

 

[wibble]

Tocs, particularly those in London and the South East (L&SE) need to do more to increase loadings on their off peak services which have huge amounts of capacity left idle during the day but which are absolutely jam packed in peak hours. I'd say that by and large having consistent loadings across the day rather than jammed trains in peaks and dead trains off peak is something that Intercity operators (First class excepted) and Regional operators have done better in than L&SE Tocs.

Intercity TOCs rely more on leisure (i.e. Advance) fares and are more sensitive to changes in the economy compared to LSE TOCs who are more reliant on commuters for their income. As the Intercity TOCs are so reliant on Advance fares, they've invested in airline-style pricing for Advance fares which is something LSE TOCs are unlikely to do.

I think there's a misconception that Regional operators have filled off peak capacity better than LSE. Passenger numbers have grown in the regions over the last 10 years, but has the capacity of rolling stock kept up? One of the biggest complaints I hear about from passengers in the North is the lack of capacity.