LexyBoy
Established Member
(Mods Feel free to move this post if it would be better elsewhere, I realise its a bit pie-in-the-sky 
)
Ive been thinking about the proposed services to be run from Marylebone to Oxford by Chiltern as part of Evergreen 3. On the face of it, a more frequent service to London is to be welcomed, as well as the new parkway station at Water Eaton. However, Ive become a bit curious/concerned about the implications on fares though in particular whether competition will be A Good Thing in this instance.
As I understand it, FGW set fares for the Oxford-London flow. Therefore Chiltern can introduce a Chiltern Only, and FGW could introduce a Route Reading at the current price, raising Any Permitted to a premium (can they do this by petitioning DafT? - on the grounds that historically the protected Any Permitted would be equivalent to route Reading).
Then, Id guess Water Eaton Parkway and Islip to London would be set by Chiltern, so they could have a Route High Wycombe, and a Route Reading fare. The only permitted routes from these stations would be direct or shortest route (probably via High Wycombe), as they (well, Islip) has London as an associated RP.
Fares-wise, we can look at fares from Bicester North (since Chiltern's Oxford-London service will go via Bicester)
Anytime Single (SOS) fares:
Oxford to London £26
Bicester North to London £23
so Chiltern could have a slight price advantage for commuters.
Off peak, we have:
Chilterns OPR (PV) from Bicester North - £25
Oxford-London SVR (5K) £23.50
- so currently Chiltern's fare is more expensive for a more restrictive ticket. The popularity of the Oxford Tube shows the demand for cheap leisure travel, so maybe there would be some competition here?
So - we may end up with more fares, but little difference in price, all adding to the general confusion by punters.
Any thoughts? and has there been any comment from Chiltern about their strategy in this regard (I believe they are focussing on Water Eaton Parkway more than Oxford per se)?
)Ive been thinking about the proposed services to be run from Marylebone to Oxford by Chiltern as part of Evergreen 3. On the face of it, a more frequent service to London is to be welcomed, as well as the new parkway station at Water Eaton. However, Ive become a bit curious/concerned about the implications on fares though in particular whether competition will be A Good Thing in this instance.
As I understand it, FGW set fares for the Oxford-London flow. Therefore Chiltern can introduce a Chiltern Only, and FGW could introduce a Route Reading at the current price, raising Any Permitted to a premium (can they do this by petitioning DafT? - on the grounds that historically the protected Any Permitted would be equivalent to route Reading).
Then, Id guess Water Eaton Parkway and Islip to London would be set by Chiltern, so they could have a Route High Wycombe, and a Route Reading fare. The only permitted routes from these stations would be direct or shortest route (probably via High Wycombe), as they (well, Islip) has London as an associated RP.
Fares-wise, we can look at fares from Bicester North (since Chiltern's Oxford-London service will go via Bicester)
Anytime Single (SOS) fares:
Oxford to London £26
Bicester North to London £23
so Chiltern could have a slight price advantage for commuters.
Off peak, we have:
Chilterns OPR (PV) from Bicester North - £25
Oxford-London SVR (5K) £23.50
- so currently Chiltern's fare is more expensive for a more restrictive ticket. The popularity of the Oxford Tube shows the demand for cheap leisure travel, so maybe there would be some competition here?
So - we may end up with more fares, but little difference in price, all adding to the general confusion by punters.
Any thoughts? and has there been any comment from Chiltern about their strategy in this regard (I believe they are focussing on Water Eaton Parkway more than Oxford per se)?
