Stevie D wrote:
Anonymouse wrote:

snipp-ex

Did you not read the press release? Fares are not - on average -
increasing.

That depends how they calculate the average.

I can well believe that, if you write down all the different
combinations of fares before and after the change, and take the mean
or median difference, it will be close to zero.

I can equally well believe that most of the fares that they are
reducing are sold in very small numbers, and most of the fares that
they are increasing are sold in very large numbers - so the average
fare paid will be substantially higher under the new scheme.

It all depends on the journey being made. Here's a few examples from my
neck of the woods:

Enfield Town (Zone 5) to London Liverpool Street (Zone 1) currently
costs £3.50 for a Single, £4.30 for a Cheap Day Return, and £5.80 for a
Standard Day Return.

Under the new structure, those will go up to £3.80 Single, £4.70 Cheap
Day Return, £7.20 Standard Day Return. (Inflation busting increases of
8.6%, 9.3% and a massive 24.1%, respectively).

Oh dear...Not a good start.

Let's try Enfield Town to Zone 1, including tube, instead. Current fares
are £6.50 Single, £10.30 Cheap Day Return, £11.80 Standard Day Return.

Under the new fares, those go DOWN to £5.80 Single, £8.70 Cheap Day
Return, £11.20 Standard Day Return. (Reductions of 10.8%, 15.5% and
5.1%, respectively).

Now let's go for a local journey:

Silver Street (Zone 4) to Enfield Town (Zone 5). Currently this is £2.00
Single, £2.60 Cheap Day Return, £3.00 Standard Day Return.

Under the new structure, these change to £1.90 Single, £2.80 Cheap Day
Return, £3.30 Standard Day Return. (5% Reduction, 7.7% Increase and 10%
Increase, respectively).

At the end of the day, it's all swings and roundabouts, and there will
be some winners and some losers, the latter generally where the fares
have been kept artificially low by NSE/the TOCs.

Cheers,

Barry