Great British Rail: the case for tackling ticket price confusion

Strikes and disruptions brought down another UK rail franchise this week. The government took control from TransPennine Express — best describe as an uncommon joke – from UK-listed operator FirstGroup. Cue lamentations over the state of Britain’s railways, paired with rose-tinted anecdotes about train travel elsewhere in Europe. But are the British right to believe that trains abroad are so much better than at home?

Britain’s railways are certainly in a precarious state. The network is in fact nationalized and the private sector reduced to the role of operator. There is little incentive for improvements until a new public body, Great British Railways, takes control next year.

Yet Europe’s railways are not themselves free of problems. Also, the idea that Britain has exorbitant ticket prices is not entirely accurate.

Take Germany. National operator Deutsche Bahn is investing billions of euros to modernize its network and improve reliability which has also plummeted over the pandemic. Some ticket prices are not much different from those in the UK. Indeed, for a similar distance – equivalent to a trip from London to Sheffield – tickets were more expensive in some cases, according to official booking sites. Prices in France and Italy weren’t far off either, although these were more expensive high-speed journeys.

GBR has already promised to reform Britain’s Byzantine ticket pricing system. According to Mark Smith, who runs travel site Seat 61, the current system has inherited many quirks from the old nationalized system, such as off-peak return tickets costing just £1 more. routes.

A clearer difference comes from the aggressive use of dynamic pricing strategies. Long distance tickets purchased on the same day cost much more than those purchased in advance and especially during peak hours. This is likely to influence the view that prices in Britain are much higher.

GBR is unlikely to remove this system. Although he belongs to the government, he is expected to earn his living. Discriminatory pricing is, after all, designed to maximize revenue.

However, there is a chance to bring transparency and uniformity across the network. This would give passengers the assurance that they are getting the best price. It might even improve the public mood towards the industry.