Christmas travel: Train passengers 'DENIED chance to buy cheaper advance rail fares'
GETTY Passengers have been denied the chance to buy cheap tickets for Christmas, according to a report
Transport Focus found that at least six rail firms had still failed to offer a full range of advance purchase fares 11 weeks before Christmas, forcing passengers travelling home for the holidays into buying more expensive tickets. It comes as Network Rail revealed it will carry out £160million worth of work over the Christmas period, with services around London, Manchester and on the west coast being heavily affected. MPs described the report as “very worrying” and questioned why rail firms were unable advanced fares and services when engineering work is planned “well ahead” of time. Advanced fares are normally offered 12 weeks before travel, but Transport Focus revealed that six companies failed to offer a full range of discounted tickets 11 weeks from Christmas including Greater Anglia, Great Western, London Midland, South Western, Southern and Virgin Trains. Virgin Trains later announced they will only put cheap advance tickets on sale for the four trains they have scheduled from Manchester to Glasgow using the west coast main line on December 24.
A spokesman said: “Advance tickets are on sale for December 24. "We know engineering works can impact people’s travel plans and recommend customers check before travelling.” Passengers using Southeastern trains will also be one of the worst hit with no services running into London Bridge, Charing Cross, Waterloo East and Cannon Street from December 23 to January 1. The operator, which is partly French owned, has scrapped all advance fares for this period, meaning journeys will reportedly cost up to twice more than usual but take three times longer due to engineering works for new Thameslink routes. A spokeswoman for Southeastern said: “We’re not offering advance fares on services during the Christmas blockade as we’re encouraging people to find alternative routes to use.
GETTY Transport Focus found six rail firms had still failed to offer advance fares before Christmas
"We’ll be running a severely reduced service.” The Transport Focus added that it was also “particularly concerned” that 2,648 incorrect journeys had been offered for sale in Christmas week and that passengers were being sold tickets without any warning their journeys will be disrupted by engineering work. The watchdog found 14,806 errors in the database passengers used to book tickets ahead of Christmas. Their report cited Great Western Railway tickets which had been on sale in early October for its London Paddington to Cardiff services on December 27, when Paddington will be shut. In another case, National Rail Enquiries was selling tickets for an Arriva Trains Wales service via Crewe in late October, failing to mention it would be a replacement bus service.
Save money in the run up to Christmas Sun, November 26, 2017 Christmas savings: Tips to make the most of your money this festive season. Play slideshow Getty 1 of 11 Save money in the run up to Christmas
This report is very worrying and raises a number of concerns Steve Double
According to Transport Focus, the errors in ticketing databases meant that travellers were being “misled into buying something they would not otherwise have purchased”. Rail firms blamed the problems Network Rail for failing to finalise its schedule of engineering work over the festive break. But Transport Focus warned that errors were creating a “sense of distrust in the railway” adding that delays in finalising the engineering work timetable “prevents the release of advance purchase tickets — for many people the only affordable means of travelling longer distances”. Anthony Smith, chief executive of Transport Focus, said: “Failure to release timetables 12 weeks ahead of travel can mean passengers buy tickets for trains that will not run. “Train operators’ advice is to book early at Christmas to get the best deal, but if the timetable has not been finalised only more expensive ‘on the day’ tickets can be bought.
GETTY Network Rail revealed it will carry out £160million worth of work over the Christmas period
“Being forced to change plans because the railway hasn’t got this right will only result in more frustration from passengers.” Steve Double, a Conservative member of the House of Commons Transport select committee, told the Telegraph: "This report is very worrying and raises a number of concerns. "Network Rail clearly plan their maintenance and improvement works well ahead so surely it must be possible to coordinate this to ensure passengers have all the information they need before planning their Christmas travel." It comes as Network Rail has confirmed it will spend a record £160million on 260 projects at 3,400 locations this month. This is on top of the biggest ever Easter engineering works, which saw £70million spent on 200 projects.
Rail expert Ian Baldry, of IBPTS travel consultants, said: “Passengers will be unhappy about cheap advance tickets being reduced. “And works making journeys take longer than usual means passengers will not even get the service they have paid for." He said: “It’s the worst year of rail engineering work there has ever been.” A spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train companies and Network Rail, said: “Carrying out this vital work over Christmas and New Year, when fewer people use the railway, will help to minimise disruption while ensuring Britain has the railway it needs to prosper.”