Action to reform broken rail fares system

18 February 2019

Transport Focus welcomes the rail industry’s ‘Easier Fares for All’ proposals to Government designed to overhaul the country’s confusing and outdated fares system.

These radical proposals are informed by the result of a joint public consultation carried out in 2018 by the Rail Delivery Group and Transport Focus – the independent passenger watchdog.

The consultation asked the public for their views – to better understand what passengers want to see from an up to date, easier fares and ticketing system that aims to be revenue neutral overall with no change in average fares. To achieve this, existing fares regulations will need to evolve.

Commenting on the launch of the Easier Fares for All proposal, Anthony Smith, chief executive of independent passenger watchdog Transport Focus said:

“The time for piecemeal change has gone. Transport Focus’s extensive passenger research tells us that Britain’s outdated and outmoded fares and ticketing system must be overhauled.

“Vital changes to the fares system must be tested through pilot projects. These will provide reassurance and allow passengers to understand the impact of the changes.

“Many of the changes in the rail industry’s proposal are sensible and long overdue: single journey-based pricing will simplify and make the system easier to explain. Pay-as-you-go pricing and a ‘tap-in tap-out’ system could make rail more attractive by supporting a fares system that will better match the way that people want to work and travel more flexibly.”

Notes to editors
All of Transport Focus’s research on fares and ticketing is listed online.

For further information please contact the press office on 0300 123 2170. For urgent out of hours media enquiries please call 0300 123 2181.

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