Fare rises for 2022

[whole diary]

[RichardB]

Has the date for the fares increase been set yet?  I've just been having a quick look on the web and can only find the December announcement that it would be in March.  My colleague Mike has been looking at local GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) Off-Peak Day return fares for March and April - no difference to the current ones at present.

[ChrisB]

Good question - about a fortnight ago, I saw a reference to March 1st - but that's a Tuesday, so I doubted it then. Haven't sen any other date yet though, but surely it requires fares to be released at T-12 - as that is how far in advance you can supposedly buy flexible tickets....hmmm

[Ross H]

I'm keen to know because I'm possibly making an outward journey on 1st March but don't want to buy the ticket before I have to! Official websites are strangely silent on the subject. The only reference I've found to 1st March is on MoneySavingExpert but I don't know whether they're just assuming that's the date (as I was before I started looking).

How does it normally work when you buy a ticket in advance, in the period approaching a fare increase? Suppose the increase is taking place on 1st March, would you expect to be able to buy a ticket on 28th February, for travel on 1st March, for the old price, or would you expect the system to charge you the new price?

[ChrisB]

Current fares are still available up to May 3 !!

I would get & buy now if I were you as they can’t refuse you travel on any ti ket already sold & bought in good faith

[Robin Summerhill]

Current fares are still available up to May 3 !!

I would get & buy now if I were you as they can’t refuse you travel on any ti ket already sold & bought in good faith

Bearing in mind that you have to specify dates of travel when buying advance tickets, and most other tickets these days are valid for outbound travel on day of issue only, then you would normally have to tell the booking clerk (person behind the screen or computerised system) at least the date of outward travel.

It would then be a simple matter of charging whichever fare applied on that day. It would of course be possible with period returns to come back at the old price if you had bought the ticket before the fare increase

This not a definitive answer to the question because I haven't worked in a booking office for 56 years! 

[ChrisB]

Ross H has said outward travel on March 1

[grahame]

Press Release from Railfuture:

Rail fare hikes stoking the cost of living crisis

Rail fare hikes of 3.8% kick in on Tuesday 1st March, adding to the current cost of living crisis.

“Ordinary working people are feeling the squeeze like never before, yet the government is stoking the fire of the cost of living crisis with these eye-watering fare increases.  How does this help get the country back to work?” said Bruce Williamson of the campaign group Railfuture. “Few people are getting an income increase of 3.8% this year. People are struggling to heat their homes, yet the government wants to take even more money off them for the privilege of taking the train to earn a living.“

Government uses the obsolete RPI^▸ (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context)) measure of inflation instead of CPI which is usually lower.  If CPI were used, fares would rise by only 2%.

“If the government cared about the cost of living crisis, they would drop RPI and use CPI instead. They can afford to give motorists a break, by freezing fuel duty for 12 years on the trot.  Why won’t they do something similar for the hard pressed rail traveller?”

“Inflation this year is likely to hit 8%, so unless the government changes the formula, the average rail traveller will be bankrupted next year.”

“They could take this opportunity not just to freeze fares, just like they’ve done with fuel duty, but to reform our insanely complex fares structure.  Transparent, affordable fares would not only encourage a return to rail, but would give a boost to the economy and promote green environmentally-friendly travel.”

[grahame]

Some numbers from this morning:

Melksham to Swindon return
Any Time - £10.80 to £11.20
"Off Peak" - £8.00 to £8.30

Melksham to Paddington via Swindon return
Any Time - £186.80 to £193.80
"Off Peak" - £78.70 to £81.70
"Super Off Peak" £59.10 to £61.30

I have added fare tables from brfares for 4 sample journeys to our member's archive for posterity

http://www.passenger.chat/bri_wat_fares_2021.pdf
http://www.passenger.chat/bri_wat_fares_2022.pdf

http://www.passenger.chat/mkm_cfd_fares_2021.pdf
http://www.passenger.chat/mkm_cfd_fares_2022.pdf

http://www.passenger.chat/mkm_pad_fares_2021.pdf
http://www.passenger.chat/mkm_pad_fares_2022.pdf

http://www.passenger.chat/mkm_swi_fares_2021.pdf
http://www.passenger.chat/mkm_swi_fares_2022.pdf

[Ross H]

Ross H has said outward travel on March 1

I went on 28th Feb in the end and avoided the increase.  Though a couple of days before that, I asked the member of staff in the ticket office in Exmouth if she knew when fares were going up and she didn't.  You can tell the Government are in charge, and winging it.

[Sixty3Closure]

Article in the Telegraph (behind a paywall) that fares could increase by over 10% next year unless the link between CPI (or is it RPI^▸ (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context))) and ticket prices is broken.

That could be some quite hefty price rises on season tickets. For my old commute it would be over £400 a year more which is more than any pay rise I'm likely to get this year.

Even the Telegraph seemed to admit it wasn't a good way to tempt people back to the railways or even their office.

[ChrisB]

Conjecture based on July's likely RPI^▸ (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context))% inflation number....whether or not they use '+1'