Great Western Coffee Shop

South Western Railway (SWR) is changing its ticketing restrictions, potentially creating a significant fare rise for thousands of passengers, a campaign group has said.

The rail company says it is "simplifying" its Super Off-Peak ticketing structure to provide "greater clarity and cheaper fares" for many customers. However, SWR Watch claims the changes will increase fares on certain journeys.

From Monday (September 6), SWR Watch says those travelling to London Waterloo outside of the morning peak period may see their tickets increase by more than 25 per cent, as 'Super Off-Peak' fares will typically only apply for arrivals after 2pm.

Full statement from SWR

A spokesperson for SWR said: "Following feedback from our customers, we are simplifying our Super Off-Peak ticketing structure to provide greater clarity and cheaper fares for nearly three quarters of customers.

"For the majority of journeys, we have in the past offered two Super Off-Peak Day return products – Weekday and Weekend – which have both had different time restrictions and price points.

"For shorter journeys of up to an hour, we have replaced these with two new products – Evening Out and Sunday Out – simplifying our offer to customers, namely by making the time restrictions clearer. On Sundays, all time restrictions have been removed entirely, making this cheaper fare available all day.

"On longer journeys of over an hour, we have introduced a Super Off-Peak (Period) Return, providing much more flexibility for our customers so that they can return on any day for up to a month without needing to buy a more expensive ticket.

"We have also introduced Evening Out on routes which did not previously have Weekday Super Off-Peak products, such as Woking to Southampton and Portsmouth, again reducing the cost of journeys for our customers.

"For customers travelling into Waterloo on a weekday between 12 and 2pm, changing their arrival time to after 2pm could see them save money compared to the current Super Off-Peak offering. If a customer is unable to arrive after 2pm, they will see a small increase in cost, as little as £2 each way for a customer from Woking as an example.

"We are confident that our customers will welcome the greater clarity and better value for money that these changes will bring."

Cheaper day returns after 12:00 were also the case on the Southern Region in the 1960s.  My family's days out into the Kent countryside always started with the first train after 12:00.  A 4-EPB on the 12:11 Bellingham to Shoreham (Kent).

I remember the EPBs as basic but reliable.

Latest figures from the RDG suggest leisure travel is back to pre-pandemic levels, so moving some to post 2pm may be what they are trying to do