London-Southampton May 25th

[bb21]

I think we need to get it out of our head that the Railway is still somehow a public service. It hasn't been since privatisation and is highly unlikely to be back to that state in the near future.

As I mentioned in the other thread, Advance fares are not really about fill empty seats any more on many routes. It is just another tool for the TOCs to maximise revenue. The system is a bit silly at the moment in some sense, but then nothing is going to be perfect and cater for everyone's needs.

Even SWT realises what a boring place Southampton is and actively discourages people from going there.

 

[Greenback]

I think we need to get it out of our head that the Railway is still somehow a public service. It hasn't been since privatisation and is highly unlikely to be back to that state in the near future.

I couldn't agree more. In fact, I think it goes back to before privatisation, to the days when BR were foprced to becoem a business led railway in around 1984.

As I mentioned in the other thread, Advance fares are not really about fill empty seats any more on many routes. It is just another tool for the TOCs to maximise revenue. The system is a bit silly at the moment in some sense, but then nothing is going to be perfect and cater for everyone's needs.

Spot on. As I said earlier, if if cheaper Advances were introduced between Southampton and London, the net result would be lower revenue overall.

It has nothing to do with filling up empty seats. It is all about the bottom line. These are business decisions based on data that is commercially sensitive, but I have little doubt that if a TOC thought there was adidtional money to be made, they would do whatever they could to make that money.

 

[AndyLandy]

Even SWT realises what a boring place Southampton is and actively discourages people from going there.

Then perhaps they'd like to consider cheaper fares in the other direction. Y'know, to encourage us to get away from Southampton and go somewhere nicer!