TfL raises off-peak railcard fares

[philjo]

It is only a 5p increase but this is a 5% rise in some cases and has not been officially announced. Story on BBC news.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-13560279

Rail fares across London have risen by up to 5% - without a public announcement being made.

Nine off-peak Railcard discounted fares have been hiked by 5p from the annual fare levels set in January.

The London Liberal Democrats said Mayor of London Boris Johnson, who controls fares, was being "underhand".

Mr Johnson is yet to comment, although Transport for London said it is standard practise to update fares three times a year.

But Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat chairwoman of the London Assembly Transport Committee, said: "Boris Johnson has real form in pushing through fare rises in an underhand way.

"He has already been caught red handed over his attempt to sneak through fare rises as high as 74% by abolishing zone two to six Travelcards this year.
"I am not aware of previous mid-year fare increases and think it is extraordinary that this has been sneaked out."

She added: "The mayor should publish his fare proposals for all fares for the year ahead and fully consult Londoners on his plans."

TfL spokeswoman said just 60 out of a total 750,000 possible journeys have been affected by this change.

"TfL updates fares information in its systems three times a year to allow for any adjustments that need to be made," she added.

"The major change last weekend was the removal of Oyster Extension Permits, which will be a huge improvement for rail users in the capital.

"Several minor changes also needed to be made including adjustments to some of the off-peak Railcard discounted fares."

She added: "At the January fares revision the complex formula for these fares was not yet available so they were set lower than they should have been."

The following off-peak Railcard discounted fares have been raised:

* Local fares for zones 12345 and 123456 (£1.75 to £1.80)
* TfL local fares for zones three, four and five (90p to 95p)
* National Rail local fares for zone one (95p to £1.00)
* National Rail local fares for zones one and two (£1.10 to £1.15)
* National Rail local fares for two zones outside zone one (95p to £1.00)
* National Rail local fares for three zones outside zone one (£1.10 to 1.15)
* Through fares between TfL and National Rail for zone one (£1.75 to £1.80)
* Through fares between TfL and National Rail for two zones outside zone one (95p to £1.00)
* Through fares between TfL and National Rail for three zones outside zone one (£1.10 to £1.15)

 

[RJ]

It is only a 5p increase but this is a 5% rise in some cases and has not been officially announced. Story on BBC news.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-13560279

5p increase - I think I'll live. That said, if I wasn't on the internal LUL Ticketing mailing list, I wouldn't even have known the fares change more than once a year (in January).

 

[Greenback]

ATW have also raised many fares by 10p or so. I don't think this was announced until after it had been done!

 

[MikeWh]

That claim that only 60 out of 750,000 journey possibilities are affected is completely laughable. What the spokesperson should have said is that people using those fares since January have actually been undercharged but we won't try and claw back the difference. Then it becomes a positive story.

 

[SS4]

5p is neither here nor there to me (especially if the cap remains unchanged) especially since my railcard still offers a significant discount. More annoying IMO is the way it wasn't announced

 

[embers25]

SWT have also raised fares on many routes (Pinhoe to Salisbury being one) and these raises apply to both regulated and unrelgulated fares which I didn't think was legal?

 

[OwlMan]

SWT have also raised fares on many routes (Pinhoe to Salisbury being one) and these raises apply to both regulated and unrelgulated fares which I didn't think was legal?

All fares can be changed three times a year as long as the basket remains within the limit of RPI+3% (for regulated fares) although most subsequent changes are adjustments to correct errors made in January.. There is no rule that resticts changes to January, they take place in January, May & December.


Peter

 

[MikeWh]

... they take place in January, May & December.

January, May and September?

 

[OwlMan]

January, May and September?

Thanks mike (thats what I meant
Peter
Corrected original post

 

[Mushtimushta]

It has been possible to change National Rail fares 3 times a year (Jan, May & Sep) for about 25 years. The January update is traditionally the time at which all fares change (which usually means rise), but the TOCs have 2 further opportunities in the year to either put right errors, introduce new ticket types or remove redundant ones, change ticket validities or re-structure. TfL mirror this process, because they offer through fares to National Rail, so will reflect any changes that affect the NR element of through fares. the 5p "hike" is a bit of a non-story, in my view. All they've done is adopt the NR rounding rules for railcard-discounted PAYG. It's Caroline Pidgeon of the London Assembly posing as a defender of the fare-paying public. Where's her statement on the Coalition Government's edict to change the rules of Fares Regulation from RPI+1% to RPI+3% from 2 Jan 2012?