Opinion
frequency, reliability and punctuality, as well as information, than their German, French or Italian counterparts. This should not be a surprise. Operators are running 20 per cent more services a day than at privatisation and combined with significant investment in better stations and faster services we now have near-record highs in overall passenger satisfaction. All on a margin of around 3 per cent – much lower than many of the big supermarkets.
Simplifying tickets for best value Thirdly, despite the many successes noted above, there is potentially more still to do to take the ‘sting’ out of the debate over fares and ticketing. Whether people prefer to buy through websites, machines, self print, collect at a station or have their ticket sent to their phone, we are working on a range of improvements designed to help make it easier and simpler for passengers to buy tickets and travel with us. We have simplified the different types of ticket that are available and work is on-going to change our back office systems so that the information on tickets is clearer and ticket machines easier to use. Train companies have introduced smartphone and self print tickets and are redesigning the humble orange ticket to
make it easier to understand, removing unnecessary information while making the details passengers need to know clearer.
Many of the measures recently unveiled in the government’s Rail Fares and Ticketing Review, to which train companies contributed, will also make it quicker and easier for people to get the best value ticket for their rail journey. A pilot on single-leg pricing, for example, has potential to allow train companies to offer a simpler range of fares on longer distance routes. As train companies offer better value deals for passengers booking ahead, more and more people are choosing to mix and match the tickets they buy and this measure, if widely rolled out, would benefit those passengers. With government support, the industry will also develop and pilot a range of flexible Seasons and smartcard tickets. These will fit people’s changing lifestyles and work patterns given the growth of part-time working and a more flexible work culture.
And in line with what operators proposed, government’s reduction in the level of flex that is allowed when pricing a basket of regulated fares around the average should help to encourage greater rail use.
As well as continuing to focus on responding to passengers’ needs in these ways, operators will have to work increasingly closely with the rest of the industry to help reduce overall unit costs. By doing that, we can create the financial headroom for government in future, if it chooses, to take the pressure off regulated
fares while sustaining investment. • Michael Roberts is chief executive, Association of Train Operating Companies.
www.atoc.org
Times House, Bravingtons Walk, Regent Quarter London N1 9AW. Tel: +44 (0) 7042 9961
david.hiscock@rmf.co.uk www.rmf.co.uk
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