Are Off-Peak Rail Fare Increases Ahead?

The Pilot

The Department for Transport (DfT) and the Train Company LNER are piloting new fares on the East Coast Mainline between selected destinations, including London to/from Edinburgh. This pilot is a con. The key part of this pilot involves the total scrapping of Off-Peak fares, including Off-Peak Returns. If this pilot rolls out as the DfT & train companies intend, a walk-on ticket between Manchester and London would rise from £114 for an Off-Peak Return to £386 - a fares increase of over 338%.

Off-peak and Advance fares

The DfT claim that only 11% of passengers use Off-Peak tickets, a figure which is selective and misleading. The same claim was used to try to close all ticket offices, until a record 750,000 objectors put a stop to it. 

The DfT claim that passengers prefer “advance” tickets, which are limited to one specific train only. However many people using advance tickets do so only because they are cheaper (though this isn’t always the case). Also, if you bought your ticket by computer, you may not have easily been offered any other option. 

Off-Peak tickets are the traditional railway tickets, valid on any train, any operator, outside of some peak time restrictions. Off-Peak Returns are valid to return any time within a month, giving you the choice of when you want to travel. 

East coast workaround tip: Travelling Edinburgh to London? Want an OffPeak ticket? No longer available to London, so buy one to Finsbury Park instead. Same price as London would have been, and perfectly legitimate under Railway fares rules. (Whilst this workaround lasts).  

Economical With The Truth?

The DfT and East Coast operator LNER claim this pilot is about Fares “simplification”. It isn’t. On the London to Edinburgh route, there are now 49 different “Mickey Mouse” advance fares, including misnamed “flex” fares. As a traveller, you can never know which of these 49 fares will be charged. It may never be the same fare twice. The Railway can in effect just make the fare up as they go along.

There is also no guarantee that any of these 49 fares will be available at all. Unlike a proper Off-Peak ticket, Advance tickets can “sell out”, and can be withdrawn from sale at any time. There is nothing to stop the DfT from using this to commission smaller trains, as “surplus” passengers can just be turned away. On the West Coast, 11 coach Pendolinos do much of the work. But new 807 trains are already rolling out-with only 7 coaches.

Advance tickets may work for you if your journey only involves one train and you know exactly when you will be travelling on both your outward and return journeys. But if you have connections to make, including to other transport modes, or you want to change your plans, or you want the flexibility to travel when you want, such as having a leisure day after you’ve seen the weather forecast, then Off -Peak tickets are vital. You can also usually break your journey with an Off-Peak ticket. 

Off-Peak tickets are the traditional Railway tickets.The DfT are trying to take away your right to travel flexibly, a right you have always had until now.

How You Can Help

Write to your MP and to Transport Focus. Demand that plans to scrap Off-Peak tickets, including Off Peak Returns, are abandoned. Demand their restoration on the East Coast Mainline. 

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