Covid has seen a dramatic squeeze on many household incomes, and yet the Government is steamrollering ahead with an above inflation rise in rail fares. On 1 March many fares, including season tickets, will rise by 2.6%. This is 1% over and above July’s RPI inflation rate – and RPI is an already inflated measure of inflation!
It’s now too late to prevent the fare rises (we tried!), but there’s another problem with even more serious consequences for passengers – the continued failure to roll out flexible season tickets.
Why does flexible ticketing matter?
When the worst of the pandemic eases, many of us won’t return to travelling to work five days a week – especially not with the fares hike! A mixture of home and office working is likely to be the future for a lot of people.
The present fares structure doesn’t support this. Daily fares are so pricey that travelling 3 days a week is as expensive as 5 days a week. Worse still, there is no concept an off-peak season ticket, with those travelling regularly off-peak forced to buy daily tickets at a cost almost approaching a season ticket. The current system does not provide the flexibility that modern commuting habits demand.
Coupled with the fares rise, we think this is simply going to price people off the railway. With people used to working at home, who is going to pay through the nose to commute? Many of us miss meeting colleagues and clients face to face, and would like to go in some days of the week – but not at any price. The Government needs to know that its plans just won’t work. A half empty rail system will heap more costs onto the taxpayer. It would be a complete own goal!
What’s the solution?
TLC is calling for a simple a solution that will be quick to implement. We’re asking for carnet tickets to be made available on Southeastern and other operators. A carnet is a “book” of pre-bought tickets which can be used to travel on different days. For example, 10 tickets might be bought and be valid for 10 single journeys within two months. Carnets are already available on some train operators but to work they need to be good value – we suggest a 30% discount on daily fares. They should be offered in peak and off-peak versions.
Longer term, we hope this can be incorporated into smart cards or contactless pay-as-you-go ticketing – but for now we simply don’t have the time to wait for the railway’s IT systems to catch up.
How can I get involved?
We’re asking our members and supporters to get in touch with their MP to explain why we need flexible ticketing now. Both Tom Tugendhat and Greg Clark support flexible ticketing, but they need a strong postbag from their constituents to persuade the Government of the urgency of the problem.
Here’s what to do:
- Check who your local MP is and send them an email:
- The contact details for Tom Tugendhat (MP for Tonbridge and Malling) are here
- The contact details for Greg Clark (MP for Tunbridge Wells, including Paddock Wood) are here
- Start your email by explaining that you are a constituent of the MP and wish to raise a concern about rail fares.
- Explain how the combination of the fares rise and the lack of flexible ticketing affects you. For example, if you’re currently working at home and contemplating going back to the office part-time, you might point out that the lack of flexible ticketing will mean that you’ll simply continue to work at home. You might add that you won’t be visiting Pret in London, or seeing any West End shows (when they return) – so the London economy will suffer too!
- Explain what you want – a system of carnet ticketing to allow you travel in a flexible way.
The more you personalise your message, the better. Copy and paste letters make little impact. Use your message to give your MP a concrete example of how the lack of flexible ticketing is affecting one of their constituents. They can then go to the Government and make stronger case for action.
Please tell your friends and colleagues to do the same. If you’re on social media (Facebook, Twitter etc) then post your support and tag us in it – we’re @TonLinCommuters on Twitter and @tonbridgecommuters on Facebook. The more people we can get involved in our campaign, the better. If you can persuade them to join TLC, then better still! The more members we have, the more we can press the case for change.