January 2009 fares increases

[Edvid]

http://www.atoc-comms.org/dynamic/atoc-press-story/997885/ATOC-announces-2009-rail-fares-changes

Great news in particular if you travel with CrossCountry or First Capital Connect! :roll:

 

[87015]

Nice of them to use July's RPI rather than a recent one, or even take the rather obvious current economic trend into account

 

[me123]

And Strathclyde fares, now no longer regulated/whatever by SPT, are finally going up. Not too much, but still...

With the Financial Downturn, people go to the train to save money, or carpool. Both are good for the environment. Fuel has come down in price recently and, coupled with more fare increases, this could get more people off the trains and into the cars.

 

[class 313]

And Strathclyde fares, now no longer regulated/whatever by SPT, are finally going up. Not too much, but still...

With the Financial Downturn, people go to the train to save money, or carpool. Both are good for the environment. Fuel has come down in price recently and, coupled with more fare increases, this could get more people off the trains and into the cars.

Ah well, the general use of people back into cars with the cheaper fuel with drive fuel prices back up when resources start to run out.

But still... What?

 

[me123]

True, and hopefully that will happen.

To confirm, my last statement was meant in a slightly sardonic manner.

 

[anthony263]

well if my train fare to swansea from bridgend goes over £6 then i think i will travel by bus instead, then again maybe the bus operator will put fares up again as well.

 

[devon_metro]

That would equate to an increase of 9% (ish) and ATW aren't raising fares that significantly. It will probably rise by 20p

 

[alex57601]

How long will it be before Yorkie adds his input to the news.

Only joking mate!

As for the high train fares + falling fuel prices = return to cars theory, I wouldn't say that applies in practice everywhere, especially when travelling to/from town and city centres as you still have parking costs and congestion, as well as other motoring expenses such as car tax, insurance, MOT, servicing etc.

It boils down to which mode is more convenient. For me at least, I drive when it's more convenient to do so (or extremely difficult to do otherwise) but I still use the train a lot when travelling to city centres or going long distances, or I may just get up one morning and decide whether I can be bothered doing one over the other and vice versa!

 

[rosscbrown]

They are adding 54 pence to my weekly journey home! That's £28.08 a year. I have no idea how I'll survive in this new world economy.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Also, with fewer trains running to where I want to go, I've even more frustrated. I think I'll just start walking between Edinburgh and Lockerbie...

 

[me123]

That's nothing compared to what some people will need to pay. I can see, as I say, Strathclyde being badly hit at some point, simply because the fares are so cheap just now. It should still be value for money I would hope, but a rise in one of the poorest areas in Scotland could coax some off the train.

I hope not. Of course, we have the lowest rate of car ownership as well, so there's a guaranteed customer base there.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Also, with fewer trains running to where I want to go, I've even more frustrated. I think I'll just start walking between Edinburgh and Lockerbie...

Lockerbie's always been a problem though. Glasgow-London services slow down considerably for the stop, and not that many people travel south. Still, it's a very useful stop from the North that's underserved. The obvious option would be to change all stops at Motherwell for stops at Lockerbie (Motherwell-Glasgow is an easy journey to make, and removing stops shouldn't be problematic), and stop all EDB-BHM trains at Lockerbie. SHould give a better service (at least 1tp2h).

 

[prd101]

I've looked on the trainline.com and the prices for January (presumably if you buy now) are of course still the current prices. Is there a way before January to find out the new prices?

 

[Nick W]

This is an absolute shamble!

For years, railway fares have gone up above inflation. The cost of driving meanwhile has gone down compared to inflation. When in summer, oil prices reached record heights, the Government bailed out drivers by cancelling the 2p rise in fuel duty. Nevertheless, more people flocked to public transport.

Along comes the credit crunch, more people are using public transport than ever, some switching to depending on it. Fuel prices have gone down to as low as 90p. You might expect the Government to go ahead with the 2p rise in fuel duty and that rail fares would go down, firstly because more people are using public transport and secondly to compete with private transport.

Instead all we get is same above inflation fare rises...

I wonder how much car insurance would cost me over Christmas.

 

[rosscbrown]

Are rail fares taxed? Like fuel etc...?

 

[furryfeet]

effectively yes !

the price rises are allowed by the government, because it wants to cut the subsidy paid by the treasury.

if the Dot wanted to give the public value for money, then they would block the price rises.

 

[Mojo]

if the Dot wanted to give the public value for money, then they would block the price rises.

The reason for most of the fare rises anyway is because the franchisees have to account for decrease in subsidy or increase in premium payments to the DfT.

Train tickets are also VAT-exempt.

 

[jopsuk]

The franchisees also, obviously, want to be able to meet the decrease in subsidy/increase in premium AND still make a profit for their shareholders.

 

[Donny Dave]

One thing to remember is that most if not all TOCs only make a few pence in the pound on each ticket sold, even with the price rises each year.

 

[Kellendel]

Looking at the January prices on nationalrail.co.uk shows that my monthly season ticket is going up by 9%. It will have gone up by nearly 20% since August this year!

 

[John @ home]

Looking at the January prices on nationalrail.co.uk shows that my monthly season ticket is going up by 9%. It will have gone up by nearly 20% since August this year!

What journey is this for, please?

John

 

[Edvid]

Individual ticket prices are now available to view on the NXEC and NRES journey planners (haven't tried The Trainline or Raileasy yet).

For example, a CDR from LTN to STP (which I often buy) will go up by about 9% to £7.90. Historically though I was among the luckiest because that same ticket cost £7.40 in 2006, £7.25 in 2007, £6.60 until September 2008 and £7.25 today. In that context, an overall rise of 6.75% over 3 years is fine but the 9% rise in itself is definitely not (in light of the recession).

For the same flow, the SDR will rise by 2.5% to £20.50.

For BDM to STP, the CDR fare increase is even worse - a 12.5% increase to £18! The SDR will rise by approx 3% to £34.

And some of you may remember yours truly elaborating on better deals for Ashford passengers buying tickets to St Albans instead of London - well the CDR for that flow will jump by a third to £20! The difference between that and the equivalent fare to London will decrease to 80p as a result (the former is still cheaper); and the SDR to SAC will go up by more than 10% to £25.90 which is still £14.70 less than the equivalent fare to London.

Oh, and the CDR to Luton will rise by 15% to £15.20. I'd be interested to know if FCC still sets those fares or not.

 

[me123]

I'm glad the Strathclyde fares aren't going up too much