January 2014 Fares increases.

[whole diary]

[Brucey]

Remember also that all season tickets can be purchased online about three weeks ahead of the start date.  Thus making the booking office controls rather meaningless.

[ChrisB]

2nd January is a fixture going forward.

New fares will be loaded by, and announced on December 23

[SDS]

Now TfL^» (Transport for London - about) have woken up and cant update in time, so National Rail are forced to postpone the zonal fare increases because TfL says so.


2014 fares changes in the London area
As a result of the late changes to fares regulation within London, Transport for London have advised that they cannot implement the revisions until 19 January 2014.
As a result, National Rail operators have agreed also to hold back price increases of all fares wholly within the London Zonal area (Zones 1-9) until 19 January 2014. This is to ensure that they are sold at the same price via both TfL and National Rail outlets.
Achieving this in the National Rail Fares System requires a number of fares updates to be processed, and as a consequence there will be an impact on which fares will be shown in ticketing and journey planning systems.
All fares will be available for sale at the correct prices if bought on the day of travel. Enquiries or advance sales dated for travel after 2 January 2014 may be affected. The table below shows what information will be shown in ticketing systems up to 19 January 2014:

Date passenger makes enquiry at ticket office or online between 23 - 26 December:
Intended travel date between 2 and 18 Jan
Incorrect fares will be shown (too expensive, i.e. post 19/1/14 prices). Do not sell these fares, please ask customers to return after 26 Dec.
Actual current (2013) fares continue to apply and you should quote these.

Intended travel date 19 Jan onwards
Systems will show the correct fares intended to apply from 19/1/14

Date passenger makes enquiry at ticket office or online between 27 December ^ 9 January:
Intended travel date between 2 and 18 Jan
Correct current (2013) fares will be shown

Intended travel date 19 Jan onwards
Incorrect fares will be shown (too cheap, i.e. current 2013 prices). Passengers enquiring about such fares should be advised to check back on or after 10 January.

Date passenger makes enquiry at ticket office or online between 10 - 19 January:
Intended travel date between 2 and 18 Jan
Correct current (2013) fares will be shown

Intended travel date 19 Jan onwards
Systems will show the correct fares intended to apply from 19/1/14


The rules applying to the issue of Season Tickets and Travelcards in advance remain unchanged. However, please ensure that for London area fares dated to commence between 2 and 18 January, the customer is charged the current 2013 prices.


London Pricing Manager
ATOC^» (Association of Train Operating Companies See - here)

[ChrisB]

So, to clarify - all 2013 fares apply until 19/1, or just Travelcards & Travelcard Seasons?

It's got be all or nowt, surely?

[Brucey]

TfL^» (Transport for London - about) have also delayed their planned contactless payment trial on the tube/DLR^▸ (Docklands Light Railway)/rail services for this same reason.

[SDS]

So, to clarify - all 2013 fares apply until 19/1, or just Travelcards & Travelcard Seasons?

It's got be all or nowt, surely?

I would guess that any tickets issued within the Zonal areas for any TfL^» (Transport for London - about) travel the fares are set by TfL and thus remain at 2013 prices. Its also the reason why a paper zone 1 single is such a rip off (despite being sold by a TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)), because its set by TfL and they want people to use Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services).
Any other season tickets which dont include any element of TfL travel e.g. Pad-Rdg increase on the date as previously advised.

[ChrisB]

So it may be cheaper to buy an unnecessary travelcard season than a point-to-london season at 2014 prices between 2nd & 19th January?! :-)

Frankly, that's silly. All prices should rise on 19th

[SDS]

Yep, silly. But we all know that when TfL^» (Transport for London - about) says they want something ATOC^» (Association of Train Operating Companies See - here) always bows down to them and they always get it. Just look at that nasty connections map. I always thought dotted lines meant limited service,