SAVER TICKETS SET TO BE SCRAPPED

SAVER tickets — which were hailed as one of the biggest successes in attracting passengers to rail travel — are set to be scrapped, according to several recent reports.

Both The Times and Daily Mirror newspapers reported that fares for some journeys could more than treble if train operators are allowed greater freedom to set prices, while the Edinburgh Evening News said fares on longer journeys could more than double.

Passengers who are unable to book ahead will have to pay a substantial premium even if they travel during off-peak hours, according to the reports. Many will be forced to buy a standard open return ticket, which, in the case of the London to Manchester route, will cost £202, compared with the saver price of £57.10, said The Times.

The newspaper said train companies have persuaded ministers that they will require less subsidy and attract more passengers if they are given more control over fares.

A price cap on saver tickets was fixed when the railways were privatised 10 years ago under the last Conservative government. At first, Saver price rises were restricted to 1% below inflation and are now limited to 1% plus inflation.

Passenger groups have written to Alistair Darling, the Transport Secretary, urging him to keep the saver.

Brian Cooke, chairman of London Travelwatch, wrote: “The saver provides discounted turn-up-and-go travel for people who are unable to commit in advance to travel on a particular train. We do not accept that all such passengers are in a financial position to pay what can sometimes be a very high full fare.”

He said: “We are concerned that train companies will abuse their power to set prices if the saver is scrapped. We could end up with a railway open only to rich people.”

The reports that Savers are to be scrapped come ahead of an expected report by the House of Commons Transport Committee, which has been taking evidence on rail fares. The committee’s report is expected next month, but the latest newspaper reports suggested ministers have already been persuaded to drop saver fare restrictions.

• The Saver ticket was the original idea of Ron Cotton, British Rail’s Divisional Passenger Manager in Liverpool in the late 1970s. In the economic recession and growing unemployment of the early 1980s, Saver tickets were used by many Liverpudlians who travelled on early Monday morning trains to find work in London, and returned to Liverpool on Friday evenings.

Within five years, Savers had become part of British Rail’s standard fare offers throughout the country, attracting many extra passengers, and were maintained and protected when John Major’s government privatised passenger train services 10 years ago.

SOURCE RAILNEWS

 

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