Why can't the UK have a more simplified rail ticket system?

Question

Instead of having ten or more different types of tickets with varying terms and conditions and fares, why can't there just be one standard fare for any given route with perhaps a discount of 30% - 40% if the ticket is purchased more than a month in advance (for example)?

The current system is just far too baffling as far as I am concerned. I just want to get from A to B. I don't want to have to be pondering over the pros and cons of ten different ticket types...

Answer 1

When the Conservative Government privatised the railways, they were warned by the transport industry that their ideas would cause just such a confusion, because the Train Operating Companies (TOCs for short) would need to maximise their revenue.

The situation has, if anything, got worse under the Labour Government with the TOCs coming under even greater pressure to maximise revenue. Witness the current situation on the East Coast Line, where the current operator, GNER, would be facing bankruptcy if they continued with the franchise.

The trouble is that politicans think they know everything and ignore what the professionals say.

Answer 2

Because, unfortunately, the whole system was privatised by the conservative governments in the 1980s, so rather than providing a national transport service, the aim of the railway companies now is to make money. They do so by fares. There are regulated fares (the standard price tickets) which tend to be used at peak times. These are set by companies but increases are limited. Because of that, they tend to keep the prices as high as they are allowed. To counter that, they then introduce lower-priced tickets to try to attract customers. Of course, as with all things, they attract with the initial offer of very low prices, but these soon rise if any particular service becomes in any way popular.

It's marketisation.

Answer 3

See Barry Doe's articles in the UK "Rail" magazine about the idiotic fare system in the UK. Station booking clerks (who are supposed to be professionals) do not know the system: in a recent test, less than 45 percent of quoted fares were correct. It often be cheaper to purchase tickets for consecutive sections of a journey rather than for the whole distance (e.g., Plymouth to Birmingham is cheaper to book Plymouth to Cheltenham then Cheltenham to Birmingham - tickets can be bought at any station).

Answer 4

It appears to be a consequence of basing fares on the market rather than mileage.

Although it's complex remember it's all about bums on seats - some of the bizarre fares are useful to someone and may be enough to sway them into taking the train instead of driving, for example.

Answer 5

We used to have just that under a company called British Rail, unfortunately some bloody civil servant decided that it'd be a good idea to flog it off, so now we've got a company in charge of maintaining rails and loads of fractured rail operators. Never underestimate a governments stupidity in search of a few quid.

Answer 6

Because no the companies have to share the cost of a ticket over certain amount of tracks.

So most companies now have there own tickets at reduced rates which are non transferable to other companies, so they get the full rate of pay from the ticket.

Also, due to the nature of the genral travelling public, you also have numerous discount cards and benefits for all areas of the uk, some are specialised, some are not.

Then you try to encourage off peak travellers, so more discounts

And you want to know a loading pattern for long distance trains, so the 6 week pre purchase tickets come out and people are encouraged to book ahead.

Finally the routes come into the ticket selling, for instance it is more expensive to go through London than around it, cheaper to travel via slow lines than express lines, cheaper from one station in the same city than another to the same destination, etc.

It is a mine feild especially when you see the conditions and restrictions book for all ticket sales.