'THE GOVERNMENT'S ABSOLUTELY AWARE ... - Rail Professional

NEWS
FARES RISE BY 20% AS SWT
BRINGS IN NEW PRICING TIER
South West Trains is putting up
first class and many off-peak fares
by 20 per cent – six times the rate
of inflation.
It is introducing a new grade of
ticket for passengers travelling
into London to arrive between
10:00 and midday.
Existing off-peak fares will be
re-named ‘super off peak’ and will
only be available in the afternoon
and evening.
A passenger from Winchester
to Waterloo travelling at 10:00
currently pays £23 for a day
return. From 20 May the fare will
rise to £27.80.
‘There is a spike in demand as
people queue to get the first
cheap fares of the day,’ explained
Bruce Akhurst, SWT’s
commercial and marketing
director. ‘To smooth that spike,
we are putting in a new price
bracket – higher than the cheap
day return but still cheaper than
the peak rate.’
SWT says peak rate season
ticket holders will not be affected
by the changes, nor will
passengers travelling within the
Greater London area. But it could
not say what proportion of its
customers will pay the 20 per
cent higher fares, claiming it did
not know how many travellers
would switch to other times of the
day to avoid the new structure.
Passenger Focus condemned
the increases as unjustified and
unfair. ‘They have the effect of
extending the peak throughout
the whole of the morning,’ said
chief executive Anthony Smith.
‘The lack of consultation and
explanation will leave passengers
frustrated and angry.’
Other rail user groups were
outraged, claiming SWT was
exploiting its monopoly, putting
profits before passengers’
interests and pricing people out
of a day-trip to the capital.
The company is also putting up
all first class fares by 15-20 per
cent throughout the day. Akhurst
said more people are trying to
buy first class fares than there are
seats available, and putting up
fares would help suppress
demand.
‘This is a move towards airline
style pricing, with a more
sophisticated range of fares,’ said
Akhurst, who came to SWT a
month ago after an earlier spell at
Eurostar, which has long used
yield management techniques. ‘It
allows us to better match demand
and pricing. From 2009 we will
also be using smart card
technology for ticketing.
‘We can look forward to a
passenger boarding a train,
seeing an empty seat in first
class, and simply swiping his
card to enter first class and
paying the upgrade
automatically.’
SWT says most passengers in
the period between 10:00 and
12:00 are business travellers
avoiding the peak, as well as
leisure day trippers to London.
6 RAIL PROFESSIONAL : APRIL 2007