UK: Rail Business UK understands that the government has no plans to introduce a subscription-based ticket offering unlimited rail travel, as has been proposed in a report produced for Greenpeace by the Greengauge 21 think tank.
‘Across Europe, nations are adopting a Climate Card, offering public transport travel on a monthly subscription basis’, said Greengauge 21 Director Jim Steer when the Fare Britannia report was published on September 19. ‘We were delighted to be asked by Greenpeace UK to discover whether a similar approach could work here. Our report seeks to learn lessons from our near neighbours and offer an opportunity to bypass today’s muddle of rail fares and stimulate a switch to public transport.’
The report proposes a price of £49/month, chosen to be similar to Germany’s €49/month Deutschlandticket which has had very high levels of take-up.
The report says a subscription-based payment is both simple and familiar from mobile phone and streaming services. It suggests starting in English regions away from the southeast, which currently dominates rail use. Inter-city trains would be excluded, and travel to and from London would require a supplement.
The impact on the rail budget is estimated as a loss of between £45m and £637m of revenue per annum. More capacity would also be needed on already busy services; the report says fares simplification projects such as the Deutschlandticket and London’s Travelcard increased trips by about 30%.
In response to the report, the Department for Transport said the government is ‘overhauling our railways to put passengers first and simplifying ticketing to deliver better value for money when taking the train’, and would explore options for expanding digital pay-as-you-go and digital season tickets.
