Indeed - currently Labour policy strongly reinforces this take of only using public transport to or from Central London, or in the last resort. And that's from someone who voted for them.
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2025 fares from 2 March 2025 now in journey planners
- Thread starter JonathanH
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I see that GTR are now promoting advance single fares from Cambridge to Kings Cross/ St Pancras. They look to be only available at weekends. The fares I saw in the journey planner were either £11 or £11.40
They don’t seem to be available from other GN stations on the route. (I checked Ely, Kings Lynn and Letchworth)
Personally I wouldn’t want to be restricted to a specific service especially when GN trains tend to be cancelled on Saturdays.
In the email I had, also London to Brighton (on Thameslink, already available on Southern) and London to Rochester (SE do these already)
More complexity, and more ways to get caught out. GTR have an annoying advance ticket block on their gates to check you're on the right train, we'll see how well it works. Mostly get waved through with anything approximately the right shade of orange. The block doesn't apply to e-tickets either.
This is how (unfortunately) most people use public transport, at least those who live outside of large cities. Not many people are anti-rail, but feel priced off.
Yes, weekend only advances - as shown on BRFares - https://www.brfares.com/!faredetail?orig=CBG&dest=KGX&rte=7783&tkt=SAV. At the same time, the weekend only super off peak fares have seen 11% increases.
I think this is a very bad move by GTR.
On Saturdays there are five trains an hour between Cambridge and London via Stevenage, with a further two to Liverpool Street. My view is that Advance tickets should not be sold where there is a 'turn up and go' service which really s th case given the frequency of trains between Cambridget and London.
A Super Off Peak Day Return valid by any train on Saturdays costs £24.30 or £16.15 with a railcard (there is an even cheaper ticket valid only on Greater Anglia trains only). Thsi ticket can be purchased on the day of travel.
The railway considers this too complicated for passengers to understand and wants to offer Advance ticket, valid only on a speific train. Yes, it might be possible to get a return for £22, if you can buy the cheapest tier of ticket in both directions, but you'd better make sure you're on the correct train. I suspect many people will end up catching the wrong train home, espacially on the way home after a day out in London.
Advance tickets cannot be discounted with a Network Railcard so it will never be cheaper for a Network Railcard holder to buy an Advance ticket to travel to London at the weekend.
I suspect this is all part of the plan to remove the weekend Super Off Peak tickets. We've just seen an inflation busting increase int he Super Off Peak tickets, keep doing this for another couple of years while claiming to offer cheap Advance tickets. Then, just reduce the number of Advance tickets at the lowest prices.
I know they were called Pricebuster tickets, but I don't think this was the intention!
The weekday ones were Pricebuster tickets. The weekend ones came later.I know they were called Pricebuster tickets, but I don't think this was the intention!
Very much reminiscent of Avanti doing this a couple of years ago (removing super off peak tickets).
Still irks me...
Maybe this needs fixing, now that Advances are more of a standard fare than a super-cheap reward for being organised as they used to be (and used not to be available in the SE, apart from as a connection to an Intercity service)
A pair of Southern's advances, known for being cheap (but not as cheap as they were at one time) is approaching the Network Railcard discounted walk up ticket on shorter routes.
I'm not sure what you're suggesting but there's no way the train companies are going to give railcard discounts on Advance tickets to holders of a Network Railcard.
The way train companies will want to fix it will be to withdraw the Network Railcard, so be very careful what you wish for.
I really don't know why the 'evening out' and 'Sunday out' fares are not rolled out nationwide.
It is a lottery as to which train companies offer these tickets.
I'm certainly a fan of the 'Sunday out' ticket.
However, in this area, SWR offer such tickets. GWR doesn't!
It is a lottery as to which train companies offer these tickets.
I'm certainly a fan of the 'Sunday out' ticket.
However, in this area, SWR offer such tickets. GWR doesn't!
Joe Paxton
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There's no lottery - they're only offered by only SWR.
Their introduction in September 2021 was I think a commercial decision by SWR, albeit one taken after the company had started operating under a 'National Rail Contract' framework rather than under a franchise agreement (that change being in May 2021). But I don't think any TOC would now have the autonomy to shuffle their fare system around and introduce such fares - rather I'd suggest it would be something for GBR to potentially implement once up and running.
So how come I can get a 'Sunday Out' starting from a SWR station, ending at a Thameslink and c2c station?
Also if the journey is done in reverse, starting at a non SWR station.
Because those are journeys for which SWR price the tickets.
It's quite likely that the majority of time spent travelling between those locations will be on SWR services, but some historical reasons exist for an operator to price tickets for a journey where they might not be the "primary" carrier.
Worth noting these tickets are being binned off as contactless expands around London, too.
boiledbeans2
Member
Note that there were winners and losers when "Evening Out" & "Sunday Out" were rolled out. The "Evening Out" tickets are valid into Waterloo after 1400, and "Sunday Out" valid on the entire Sunday.
Prior to that was the "Super Off Peak", which was valid into Waterloo after 1200 on weekdays. On weekends, the "Super Off Peak" was valid before 0930 and after 1200.
I was one of the losers of the new tickets. I used to travel into London on Saturdays regularly, arriving before 0930 or after 1200.
Now, I have to arrive into Waterloo after 1400 on Saturdays to get the cheaper tickets. So SWR lost my custom. I used alternatives on Saturday mornings.
The winners would be those travelling between 0930 and 1200 on Sunday. Prior to "Sunday Out", they would need "Off Peak" tickets.
Making Sunday cheaper than any of the other 6 days of the week would be extremely problematic on most regional operators other than SWR. Northern, WMT and Avanti have all experienced full meltdown mode on Sundays recently for example. SWR wouldn't have train crew issues on Sundays any more than they would other days.
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I think it also needs to be observed that SWR's changes were actually about making Saturday mornings more expensive, with later journeys and Sundays held at about the same price as previously.
1D54
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XC appeared to have scrapped all AP tickets from the Leicester area.
I fully realise that no TOC is under any obligation to offer them but a local return that cost me £2.60 in January went to £3.30 early March and is now £5.10 (railcard reduced prices)
That's some hike for someone that uses them like myself every day.
I fully realise that no TOC is under any obligation to offer them but a local return that cost me £2.60 in January went to £3.30 early March and is now £5.10 (railcard reduced prices)
That's some hike for someone that uses them like myself every day.
There has been widespread criticism all round of this latest fares rise, even by Simon Calder, travel editor of The Independent.
It is generally felt that services are getting worse, expensive, unreliable and no longer represent value for money.
I agree with this. Not only did the fares go up on Sunday, yet again GWR had a host of cancelled trains on Sunday evening - with the usual excuse 'shortage of train crew'. In other words drivers who don't want to work overtime.
Going out was just as bad with XC and their usual shprt formations, resulting in overcrowding.
Nothing has changed whatsoever since previous fare rises.
It really isn't good enough.
It is generally felt that services are getting worse, expensive, unreliable and no longer represent value for money.
I agree with this. Not only did the fares go up on Sunday, yet again GWR had a host of cancelled trains on Sunday evening - with the usual excuse 'shortage of train crew'. In other words drivers who don't want to work overtime.
Going out was just as bad with XC and their usual shprt formations, resulting in overcrowding.
Nothing has changed whatsoever since previous fare rises.
It really isn't good enough.
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1D54
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I phoned XC Customer Service Department to complain and as nice as the guy was who i spoke to he said, quiet correctly, they have no control over the increases as it is down to the DfT.
Interesting he also said what i am paying is expensive as the service they provide 'isn't always great' but i always have Delay Repay to fall back on.!!
Interesting he also said what i am paying is expensive as the service they provide 'isn't always great' but i always have Delay Repay to fall back on.!!
Only if more than half an hour late.
Most times XC tend to fall between 15 and just under 30 minutes late, meaning you get nothing.
1D54
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Damn fare has gone up over 90% since 2nd January. It's ridiculous but fortunately i am not travelling far and these increases must be hitting some people really hard what with everything else.
Do the DfT and rail bosses really think the way to grow passenger numbers is by continual above inflation increases?
If so, then there really are some clueless idiots in the public sector. Of course they don't care. Their season ticket into the office, and any travel expenses, is paid for by us.
The way to grow numbers is by offering reasonably priced fares, ensure trains run on time, cancellations are at a minimum, and trains are not overly overcrowded.
The UK may of invented the railways, however many other nations can now teach us a lesson, or two, on how to run them properly.
If so, then there really are some clueless idiots in the public sector. Of course they don't care. Their season ticket into the office, and any travel expenses, is paid for by us.
The way to grow numbers is by offering reasonably priced fares, ensure trains run on time, cancellations are at a minimum, and trains are not overly overcrowded.
The UK may of invented the railways, however many other nations can now teach us a lesson, or two, on how to run them properly.
But they no longer take the revenue risk so why should they care?
That makes it a postcode lottery then, to use that often used phrase.
Other winners are those travelling on weekdays when Evening Outs are valid. I was a winner.
Nick Abbot was discussing this on his LBC show on Sunday evening, during one of the hours between 22:00-01:00.
Until this Sunday it can be heard again by going to https://www.globalplayer.com/catchup/lbc/uk/episodes/2zGvEQo2n5npLWaEX5MHSRgHob/?t=3785
Whilst the tax payer is paying for their season ticket, they could spend the money on something else if it wasn't so high. So it's not the same as having a free season ticket.
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Not to grow numbers, but to grow revenue. The thinking is that people travel by rail on journeys where there is no alternative, the alternative is unpalatable (e.g. driving into central London) or to enable them to take part in an activity such as attending a concert, sports or drinking alcohol. Therefore, the demand is inelastic.
Numbers may grow due to a return to the office, and contactless being rolled out which hides the fare from passengers and separates the act of travel from paying for travel in people's mind. Otherwise, there is no ambition to grow market share, if anything some operators want to price people off.
The Government, while doesn't admit it in their public-facing spin, would prefer you to travel by car.
A lot of cheaper Advances have been removed over the past year or 2, or the lower tiers not offered even if they are still in the fares data. This has caused inflation for a lot of journeys well above the headline 4.6% rise. A pair of GWR advances is often only a few pounds under the Super Off Peak (at a time when the Super Off Peak is valid), even booked months in advance.
As ever, the railway is pretty good if you get your travel free on a staff pass, or if you're someone here who knows the system very well for how to find the cheapest tickets. Sadly for everyone else, which is nearly the entire population, they're most likely to just feel ripped off no matter what. The vast majority of the market is people who are willing to let the feeling of being ripped off go.
It's shocking to see how the new government are actually worse than the old one for the bus and rail industries.
Were you buying Advance tickets every day between Leicester and Narborough?
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Don't forget has a railcard, almost a necessity to travel these days. Even gaming the system is getting harder, with cheap Advances withdrawn, route restrictions added, local services being reservable restricting through tickets and all fares going up, even if it's "just" 4.6%. Plus, if you start short/finish early, you have to deal with clueless gateline staff.
In fairness, I don't use XC which seems to be the operator where split ticketing is the most effective.
1D54
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Yes.
Mcr Warrior
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Not sure that all the AP fares have actually been scrapped for the 10 minute journey from Leicester to Narborough, just the very cheapest tiers, which means that the cheapest price now seems to be £3.90 for an Advance Single (or £2.55 with a valid railcard).
I now do split ticketing wherever possible. Use Uber to get (currently) 10% cashback, and claim for any delays over 15 minutes, or if another operator has caused me to miss planned connections.
Delay Repay is relatively new for me. I only started doing this last year. The increasing delays, cancellations and fare rises, finally prompted me to start getting entitled money back.
Not unless you work on the Railways of course. For passengers, definitely worse!
What makes it even worse is the false pretence of the 'green agenda'. A true green agenda would not include pricing people off public transport, and ensure the right level of Government subsidy was in place.
This Government (like the last) likes to claim there is no money for the Railways, but can certainly find money to waste in other areas!
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