Great British Railways

[NathanR]

Great British Railways
The government have just announced today the creation of a new state-owned body called 'Great British Railways'

This new body will allow them to manage rail infrastructure, set timetables and prices, as well as sell train tickets in England.

As well as this, the government have also announced that from late-June, flexible tickets will be available to some people who commute two or three times per week.

This is reportedly the biggest overhaul of the rail network in the UK since privatisation in the mid 1990's

What this means:

• All tickets in the future will be sold by GBR, ending the system where passengers must buy them from multiple companies online and in stations.
• There will be a "significant rollout" of more pay as you go, contactless, and digital ticketing on smartphones.
• From next month, flexible season tickets will be available to those who commute at least two to three times per week. These tickets will go on sale on June 21st, then available for use a week later. This will allow passengers to travel on any eight days during a 28-day period.
  

GBR will also replace the current track operator, Network Rail. However GBR will not be able to oversee rail transport themselves until at least 2023.

Feel free to discuss this, if I've missed any important information or any errors, please let me know.

Sources:
https://twitter.com/i/events/1395291762285899780
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57176858

[SK15 GZG (Moderator)]

RE: Great British Railways
Decent idea. Absolutely dreadful name

[knutstransport]

RE: Great British Railways
As a result of this announcement the previous Northern flex season ticket scheme proposed (10 return journeys in 6 months) is being replaced by a 8 days in 28 days season ticket, in line with what's happening nationwide:
https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/tickets/flexi

[Mrboo]

RE: Great British Railways
So fares go up.

I can`t see them allowing Super off peak from London to Manchester that only £35 walk up fare.
on GTR you can use Oyster contactless on some routes but for some it costs more than a paper ticket.

GTR has been on the new type of flat management fee for years. it no better

[SK15 GZG (Moderator)]

RE: Great British Railways

(20/05/2021 18:20)Mrboo Wrote:  So fares go up.

I expect this will be the case despite Shapps saying they won't

Hopefully this means people will stop (wrongly) blaming TOCs for fare increases now Shapps has placed on record that GBR will be responsible for setting fares. I won't hold my breath though!

[Mrboo]

RE: Great British Railways

(20/05/2021 18:59)SK15 GZG Wrote:  I expect this will be the case despite Shapps saying they won't

Hopefully this means people will stop (wrongly) blaming TOCs for fare increases now Shapps has placed on record that GBR will be responsible for setting fares. I won't hold my breath though!

The Gov have always set fares the full price ones.

[SK15 GZG (Moderator)]

RE: Great British Railways

(20/05/2021 19:20)Mrboo Wrote:  The Gov have always set fares the full price ones.

You and I (and others) know that but the average passenger doesn't. The point I'm making is that despite the government being responsible for setting fares it's the TOCs who are always on the receiving end of complaints

Now there's more clarity about who sets the fares (and not before time) hopefully this will stop

[wirralbus]

RE: Great British Railways

(20/05/2021 18:59)SK15 GZG Wrote:  I expect this will be the case despite Shapps saying they won't

Hopefully this means people will stop (wrongly) blaming TOCs for fare increases now Shapps has placed on record that GBR will be responsible for setting fares. I won't hold my breath though!

Some fares will go up , some will go down to balance demand .

Think a lot of people see the likes of the Anytime Return (SOR) from Liverpool and Manchester and see telephone number pricing , these are the fares that rarely ever get retailed , most people travel on some form of discounted ticket and railcards.

I do expect in the next year or two to see the price of the railcard to go up from £30.00 , it is now at a price where a Off peak return to London from Liverpool and Manchester will gain the saving back in one go , i suggest the railcard will still be good value at £40.00

[knutstransport]

RE: Great British Railways

(20/05/2021 19:20)Mrboo Wrote:  The Gov have always set fares the full price ones.

Not quite - they set the average price for regulated fares to rise. Adult fares always rise in 10p multiples, so if the fare is £2 then the price rise is either 0% or 5%, whatever the government sets as the average figure. If the government sets the figure as 2.5% then the TOC can increase a popular £2 ticket to £2.10 and freeze another £2 ticket which doesn't sell so well. Until recently TOCs were increasing popular fares by things like 10% and reducing the cost of tickets that people rarely buy to compensate but the government stopped that practice.

Also in PTE areas the PTE sets the fare not the TOC and the PTE can also specify a higher fare increase to pay for investment and/or replace funding which has been cut back. There have been fare rises of things like 10% across the board in PTE areas before.

Another thing to remember is the government doesn't prevent TOCs changing their train times or restriction codes so that people who used to pay off-peak fares now have to pay anytime fares for the same train service. They can also add or withdraw cheaper advance or route specific tickets.