Chiltern leads rail industry with fares simplification

Chiltern Railways today became the first rail company to respond to calls by rail passengers and Government that train fares are too complex with a dramatic restructuring and simplification of their fares.

The radical changes have been introduced for the launch of their new Mainline service between Birmingham and London in September and aligns with the recent McNulty recommendations.

The company has borrowed from well established practices in the retail sector and deliberately chosen price points that passengers will be able to remember - and applied them to an entire region.

Standing out amid the complexity of ticketing from other operators will be three, highly memorable price points for all its key West Midlands stations to London that includes a price cut of £10 for the most flexible ticket.

The new, on the day, return fares between Birmingham and London will be as follows:

• £75 Any train, any day
• £50 Any train, any day except trains arriving in London during the morning peak period
• £25 Any train, any day except trains arriving in London during the morning peak period or leaving London during the afternoon peak period

These fares will apply from all Chiltern’s West Midlands stations from Birmingham Moor Street via Solihull through to Warwick Parkway. Passengers will no longer need to remember a whole series of different prices if they sometimes use different stations and the add-on for a London travelcard (covering the tube) will always be £5, instead of varying by ticket type as it does today.

Passengers will be delighted to hear that the cheapest £25 return ticket will now be valid for more of the day than ever before, an additional 1.5 hours London bound and an additional 5.5 hours towards Birmingham. Passengers will now be able to travel on any train arriving into London after 1130 and those travelling north will just need to avoid the 4pm to 7pm peak on weekdays.

There is no need to book any of these tickets in advance, with them all available on the day via ticket office or mobile app.

Perhaps most dramatically of all, as part of this new approach Chiltern have cut the peak fare from most stations from £85 to £75. This follows criticism of train companies that the steep fall in train pricing after the end of the evening peak encourages overcrowding and that peak fares are too high.

Chiltern’s peak fare will now be virtually half that of the Virgin route into Euston - coupled with fastest trains having near equivalent journey times; just 90 minutes from Birmingham and 1hr 10 minutes from Warwick Parkway.

Former CBI Director General and regular Warwick Parkway passenger Lord Digby Jones said, “At last a train company has woken up and started treating passengers like customers. And it comes as no surprise to me that this innovative way of charging comes from one of the few train operators by whom you can virtually set your watch. Reliability and easy to understand fares which are value-for-money, now that’s how 21st rail travel should be! A cut in peak fares can only be the right thing to do at a time of slow economic growth, and the use of simple, memorable fares is something that most of the rest of the world started doing hundreds of years ago. It’s great to see the great British railway finally moving into the modern world.”

Thomas Ableman, Director at Chiltern Railways, commented, “Passengers tell us they want fast trains, free wifi and a simple pricing structure that they can understand. We’ve developed Chiltern Mainline to deliver all of these things.

“We believe that customers shouldn’t be held to ransom by extortionate walk up fares or held captive in stations with an endless wait until the ever-extending evening peak is over. Our new fares are a commitment to customers to avoid unnecessary complexity and make it easier for them to travel.”

Advance tickets will still be available, but Chiltern will not be promoting them as heavily in the future.

Thomas Ableman explained “Passengers told us that adverts saying “from £5” were confusing – as it wasn’t clear when those tickets were actually available. That is why we have focused on a range of easily understandable tickets that are available on the day, every day and in unlimited numbers.”

ENDS
For further media information please contact the Chiltern Railways Press Office on 020 7333 3014 or press@chilternrailways.co.uk