My season ticket has gone up nearly 10% - why?

[LisaH]

Weekly season from Knutsford to Timperley Metrolink has gone up from £26.60 to £29 - but both Northern Rail and Metrolink are saying fares are up by far less than that... who is responsible for such a large increase and is this to correct an anomaly?

 

[island]

That's an increase of 9.02%. The average increase across all a TOC's fares must be under 4.2%, but individual fares may be increased by up to 5 percentage points more than that (9.2%) as long as the average is met.

Or something.

 

[LisaH]

I'm sure it's within the legal limits but just wondered why this particular increase deviated so far from the average....

 

[bb21]

I'm sure it's within the legal limits but just wondered why this particular increase deviated so far from the average....

No one can tell you exactly why, maybe it is a popular flow, maybe it is increased to eliminate some pricing anomalies, etc.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

AIUI, both Northern and Metrolink increased their fares this year and as that season is a combination of both fares (Metrolink fares are an 'add-on' fare) it is hit twice.

 

[island]

But shouldn't an increase by one or other of them just affect their component of the fare?

 

[hairyhandedfool]

I would have thought so, but I don't know exactly how much Metrolink's fares have changed or how much this has affected the fare in question. That said, if Northern had raised 9% and Metrolink had not raised any then the total fare increase would be less than 9%.

 

[bb21]

If Northern and Metrolink both increase prices by 9%, for example, then the composite season ticket will increase by 9%. If only one of them go up by 9% and the other less than 9%, say 5%, the overall effect will be between 5% and 9%. I don't think the ticket will be hit with double the increase, unless someone in the pricing department messed up the pricing formula (not impossible). This would be my alternative explanation to the OP.