GWR fare changes from 12 June

[whole diary]

[plymothian]

Some upcoming fare changes:

Out of boundary Travelcards will generally be £7.50 more than the equivalent return to Paddington for Anytime Travelvcards and £5.30 more for Super/off-peak.

Various prices changes, increase in availability and increase in destinations available of GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) only Family Advance.

Off Peak Day singles and Anytime Day singles between Paignton and Exmouth inclusive will restructured to be 50% of the equivalent Off Peak [Period] or Anytime [Period] Return - this works out to a decrease in a lot of fares, however any sub-£3.60 Anytime Day Returns will increase to £3.90.

Sleeper packages withdrawn.

[bobm]

Sleeper packages withdrawn.

Is that travel and berth inclusive fares?   The last few trips I have made have required separate bookings with the price of the berth varying between £60 and £65 depending on when I was travelling.

[plymothian]

Sleeper packages withdrawn.

Is that travel and berth inclusive fares?   The last few trips I have made have required separate bookings with the price of the berth varying between £60 and £65 depending on when I was travelling.

I believe that's what they mean, though like you I'm surprised GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) have included such announcement as they changed this back in March's fare round.

[Mark A]

Bit OT: last year, Bath Spa to London Paddington in the peak was around £214 and people were getting a bit giggly when they found that a week's season ticket was only a few £ more at £219ish.

After the 2022 fare rise, the anytime return fare is £222.40 - but perhaps someone heard the laughter as the weekly season's now £309. (£61.80 per day for the weekly season - to give an idea of the shape of *that* curve, an annual season brings the daily cost down to £43.13)

My 2 trips in the peak a month or so ago weren't enough to make a call on passenger loadings. For the first, the train up to London carried a lot of fresh air, and things didn't even pick up much at Reading. The second (heading for Swansea) gave me sight of intending travellers on the up platform at Bath, and again not busy.

Even more OT: since the dawn of time there's been a through train from Paddington via Bath and Bristol to Swansea - at 6.45am. I think it's Bath's last long distance through train to anywhere except Paddington*.

Until this year, fares to Swansea on this service were listed as off-peak, but they're now listed for this train and throughout the day as 'Anytime' at £50.40 - 'Offpeak' tickets also available for all services at £53.40, so, yes, the laughter has probably restarted, but the railway can't get offended if this use of peak vs off-peak confuses people - and perhaps booking office staff too should passengers request an off peak ticket.

Mark

*Oops, there's also the 23.24 from Bath Spa to Plymouth, arriving there at 02:09.

[stuving]

Until this year, fares to Swansea on this service were listed as off-peak, but they're now listed for this train and throughout the day as 'Anytime' at £50.40 - 'Offpeak' tickets also available for all services at £53.40, so, yes, the laughter has probably restarted, but the railway can't get offended if this use of peak vs off-peak confuses people - and perhaps booking office staff too should passengers request an off peak ticket.
Mark

Just to add a few points:

• The Bath-Swansea flow is priced by TfW, so strictly speaking this isn't a "GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) fare change".
• The fare labelled "Off-peak" has no time restrictions at all.
• It's a period return, so is less restrictive than the Anytime fare which is a day return. As such it might be worth a little more.
• Why isn't it called an Anytime return, if that's what it is? For one thing, it does not allow break of journey, and that is imposed in the restriction code (8A) that comes with being Off-peak.
• Why does this fare need to have break of journey banned? Pass. Unless it's much cheaper than fares for the part-journey and they want to prevent starting or finished short.

[Trowres]

For context, walk-up fares from (all stations Salisbury-Freshford) to Swansea come in two forms only (both priced by GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway)):

Anytime day single: £45.00
Anytime return: £60.10

[Mark A]

Until this year, fares to Swansea on this service were listed as off-peak, but they're now listed for this train and throughout the day as 'Anytime' at £50.40 - 'Offpeak' tickets also available for all services at £53.40, so, yes, the laughter has probably restarted, but the railway can't get offended if this use of peak vs off-peak confuses people - and perhaps booking office staff too should passengers request an off peak ticket.
Mark

Just to add a few points:

• The Bath-Swansea flow is priced by TfW, so strictly speaking this isn't a "GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) fare change".
• The fare labelled "Off-peak" has no time restrictions at all.
• It's a period return, so is less restrictive than the Anytime fare which is a day return. As such it might be worth a little more.
• Why isn't it called an Anytime return, if that's what it is? For one thing, it does not allow break of journey, and that is imposed in the restriction code (8A) that comes with being Off-peak.
• Why does this fare need to have break of journey banned? Pass. Unless it's much cheaper than fares for the part-journey and they want to prevent starting or finished short.

Thanks for the explanation. Using the National Rail site, I'd completely missed that 'Anytime' is a day return - unless the customer hovers over the name 'Anytime', that info doesn't appear. The break of journey restriction on the Off-peak ticket... trying to recall if I've met with one of those. The National Rail site almost makes it sound as though that's not particularly expected from an off peak ticket.

(Bath Spa - next trains)/SWA^» (Swansea - next trains)/150622/0615/dep/170622/1915/dep" target="_blank">https://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/ticketterms/show?&ticketTypeCode=SVR&ticketRestriction=8A&callingPage=/service/timesandfares/BTH/SWA/150622/0615/dep/170622/1915/dep

And there doesn't seem to be a way for the customer to find out should the point of sale person or machine not caution them. (e.g. GWR's web sales interface doesn't mention the restriction code)


Mark

[plymothian]

And more:

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) to introduce Weekday First.

Like Weekend First, whereby you can upgrade your ticket to 1st class on weekends and bank holidays, GWR will be introducing a Weekday First upgrade on high speed routes carrying 1st class accommodation.

No exact prices yet but the upgrades available will be:

Anytime Standard to Anytime First Upgrade
Off Peak Standard to Off Peak First Upgrade
Off Peak Standard to Anytime First Upgrade
Super Off Peak Standard to Anytime First Upgrade
Super Off Peak Standard to Off Peak First Upgrade
Weekend First (any ticket)

All standard class tickets (including advance and seasons) can be upgraded to the approriate Anytime/Off Peak First Upgrade for the service, eg an Advance ticket for a 'peak' ex-Paddington service can be upgraded to an Anytime Peak First Upgrade.

Upgrades valid only on GWR services and can be bought for the whole journey even if a change of train is necessary; Railcard discounts can be used on the upgrade price.

Upgrade tickets can only be bought on board and the passenger must posess the upgrade ticket before moving to first class.
Subject to availabilty.

[Richard Fairhurst]

Off Peak Day singles and Anytime Day singles between Paignton and Exmouth inclusive will restructured to be 50% of the equivalent Off Peak [Period] or Anytime [Period] Return - this works out to a decrease in a lot of fares, however any sub-£3.60 Anytime Day Returns will increase to £3.90.

That looks analogous to the Bristol area PAYG^▸ (Pay as you go)-ready fares: https://blog.brfares.com/2021/04/29/bristol-payg-fares-reform/