Government promised of part time commuter fares

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Yesterday's Daily Mail

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2798119/cheap-rail-fares-peak-commuters-transport-secretary-patrick-mcloughlin-reveals-plans-new-smart-ticketing-cut-travel-cost-thousands.html?

Thousands of commuters who travel to work outside of peak hours will be given discounts on season tickets, Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has revealed.

The cheap rail fares will also be available for people who work part-time as the government plans to cut the cost of regular rail travel by bringing in 'smart ticketing'.

Mr McLoughlin admitted that improvements needed to be made for passengers, but said the electronic ticketing scheme would save passengers money.

and

Mr McLoughlin plans to bring in electronic 'smart ticketing', similar to the Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services) card scheme in London, which he says will reduce fares.

He said: 'Not all commuters want to use the train five days a week. But at the moment it works out cheaper to pay for a season ticket than buying three return journeys a week.

'We have not got the kind of smart ticketing that would make the difference to enable you to purchase six journeys a week rather than pay for 10 journeys a week.'

[didcotdean]

The impenetrable question so far with smart ticketing is the effect on the cost of an equivalent to the cheap day return. Is making an off peak single journey going to more or less halve in cost or is a return journey going to more or less double? Or somewhere in between?