Rail fares will fluctuate based on demand under a trial to be announced by Transport Secretary Mark Harper. The cost of travel on some London North Eastern Railway (LNER) services will be more or less expensive depending on how many seats have been filled.
This is an attempt to better manage capacity while also raising revenue, the Department for Transport said. Mr Harper will set out an extension of pay-as-you-go ticketing for train journeys across south east England. He will also confirm plans to expand single leg pricing, which has been trialled by LNER - a publicly owned operator - since 2020.
That means a single fare will always be half the cost of a return. Currently, an off-peak single between Durham and London, for example, costs just £1 less than a return.
Many one-way fares will be almost halved as a result of the reform, according to the DfT. Delivering the annual George Bradshaw address to rail industry leaders in central London on Tuesday night, Mr Harper will provide an update on the future of Great British Railways - a new public sector body to oversee Britain's railways - and how it will work alongside the private sector as "a guiding mind to co-ordinate the entire network".
He is expected to say: "Today I am setting out the Government's long-term vision for the future of our railways. The industry's road to recovery after Covid has been tough, with reform badly needed to win back that lost passenger revenue while putting customers first.
"Today's announcement is the latest example of this Government taking bold decisions and getting on with the job. Growing the economy is rightly one of the Prime Minister's top five priorities, and the measures I announce today will unleash more competition, innovation and growth in an important sector of our economy."
