“The three most expensive rail operators in Europe are the ones operating totally or partially in the UK – Avanti West Coast, GWR and Eurostar.” So says T&E (the European Federation for Transport and Environment), a respected Brussels-based organisation campaigning for better, more affordable public transport.
I applaud its stated vision: “To deliver a zero-emission transport and energy system that is affordable, circular, and has minimal impacts on our health and the environment.” Which is why I am alarmed about a deeply flawed survey that will deter British travellers from using the train.
T&E has won huge amounts of publicity from a survey that triggered headlines such as “UK rail fares are now officially the most expensive in all of Europe”.
Except there is nothing official about this survey, and its conclusions are absurd.
I have bought enough train tickets in Switzerland and Scandinavia to know that they are at the top of the league for punitive pricing, way ahead of the UK.
So how did T&E arrive at such a radically different conclusion? Well, by finding fares that have eluded the rest of the world, including the train company that is accused of being one of the three most expensive rail firms in Europe.
Did you know it costs £74.90 to take a mid-afternoon train from London to Milton Keynes? Imagine: a half-hour, 50-mile trip on Avanti West Coast, booked a week ahead, costs more than twice as much as a flight to Spain (Ryanair, Stansted to Palma, £34 on 18 December if you’re interested).
But how many people have ever paid so much for the journey? None, because it doesn’t exist.
The fare for the 3.53pm is £17.10, whether you book a month, a week or five minutes ahead. You could, if you wished, choose to pay £7 more for an Anytime ticket, but I don’t know why you would.
Despite what looks to me like a bizarre 338 per cent inflation of the price of the trip, T&E insists its research is accurate.
Victor Thévenet, the rail policy manager and author of the report, told me: “Data collection was carried out in August for September ticket sales. At the time of data gathering, we found prices [for the London-Milton Keynes trip] ranged from £15 to £74.”
An Avanti West Coast spokesperson told me: “The maximum you can pay for an Anytime single between Euston to Milton Keynes is £24.20. There has never been a £74.90 fare offered by us between Euston and Milton Keynes.”
Mr Thévenet again: “Whilst this price range is not available today when trying to book a ticket, the data published was double-checked and shared with Avanti for comment in September. No issues were raised at that time or since, and there was no reason to believe the data was incorrect.”
On this particular London-Milton Keynes journey, T&E says: “The average price for this route for all the tickets that we collected was £27.30.”
Yet the highest possible standard fare is £24.20, and most people travel with cheaper tickets. Either the West Coast main line is located in some weird mathematical twilight world in which an average can be higher than any of its constituents – or an error has been made of such magnitude as to question the validity of the entire survey.
Over at Great Western Railway (GWR), meanwhile, the bosses feel equally bruised about being singled out as costing two-and-a-half times the European average.
“We do not recognise these figures,” said a spokesperson. “While a number of more expensive, more flexible tickets are available and have been included in this analysis, the vast majority of people choose to purchase cheaper fares instead.”
Train pricing and reliability deserve lots of debate. The UK rail industry deserves much of the reputational damage it suffers. Just last night, new strikes aimed at disrupting train travel over Christmas were announced – a sign of a dysfunctional industry.
But T&E has done Avanti West Coast, Great Western Railway and the passenger a disservice.
The people that the railway needs to attract more than ever – car owners who might consider a train journey instead – are now even more convinced that they’re going to be ripped off.
Final word to Victor Thévenet, T&E’s rail policy manager, who wrote the report: “We are doing further checks to certify these prices and we are committed to looking into the data. We will address any potential issues with the utmost urgency.”
