The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) has welcomed moves towards the reform of rail fares, the latest being the rolling out of ‘single leg pricing’ on LNER.
CILT is a multimodal professional institute with members from all parts of the logistics and transport sectors. The Institute is well versed in understanding the detail and implications for rail passengers, the railway industry and the government on matters relating to transport.
The primary objective of any rail fares reform must be to offer a solution which will attract more passengers onto rail thus contributing to the sustainable growth of the UK. Rail fares are sometimes portrayed as complex and the reality is that much of the current fare structure was set thirty years ago. While there has been some adoption of new technology for delivering the tickets there has been little change to the fares themselves with limited recognition of changes in either travel patterns or the use of technology.
CILT recognises that there are a number of solutions for fares reform and not all are suitable for all types of rail services. Rail serves very large commuter markets and shorter urban and rural routes, where competition is limited and there is less opportunity for "the market to decide" fares solutions. CILT and its Strategic Rail Policy Group are currently looking at fares reform in greater depth, in terms of the form of regulation necessary for the types of journeys alongside specifications for services. Solutions cannot be left entirely to the market.
CILT calls for the trialing of new solutions to be encouraged so that real life data is available to help inform decisions on the best methos of ticketing reform and to try an avoid unintended consequences. Passengers need to have confidence in any fares reform in order for change to be acceptable, existing passengers retained and new passengers attracted to use rail as their mode of choice.
CILT further notes the proposed consultation on the future of ticket offices expected from the Rail Delivery Group. It is important that the views of all sections of the public are obtained before any decisions are made. The use of ticket offices vary across types of user and particularly consideration needs to be taken where there may be a significant impact arising from changing the role of, or reducing support from, ticket offices, on those different users such as in the areas of disability and inclusion. If rail travel is to be open to all, unintended consequences arising from a range of options need to be worked through and then avoided.