Passengers could soon be paying different fares based on rail service quality

Passengers on South Western Railway (SWR) and Great Western Railway (GWR) are being encouraged to have their say on proposals revealed by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents UK train operators to overhaul rail ticketing.

Under the proposals, RDG is looking to make fares cheaper

to travel on routes with slower, less regular and more basic trains, with better services becoming more expensive.

This could mean faster services running between Weymouth and London Waterloo becoming more expensive while slower services stopping at all stations across the county becoming more expensive.

Other possibilities included in the consultation are abolishing peak and off-peak fares so passengers are charged the same throughout busier and quieter

periods, giving discounts to regular travellers and reducing prices for e-tickets but increasing

them for paper tickets to reflect the difference in transaction costs.

They will use the responses to produce a report containing proposals for governments to consider with industry bosses, reassuring people that measures will be designed to be revenue neutral with no change in average fares and no extra support from taxpayers.

The ticketing system is underpinned by regulations which are unchanged from the mid-1990s, and have not kept pace with technology or how people work and travel.

Several layers of complexity have been added through individual franchise agreements over the past three decades, with little taken away.

Currently, around 55 million different fares exist, including long-standing anomalies such as charging a peak-time fare when half a trip is on an off-peak service, and split-ticketing, where it can be cheaper to buy several tickets for a single journey - which was revealed by the Echo earlier last month.

In a joint statement, Andy Mellors, managing director of SWR and Mark Hapwood, managing director of GWR, said: “With independent research showing that only one in three rail customers in Dorset are very confident that they bought the

best value ticket for their last journey and even less are very satisfied with the experience of buying their ticket, we want

regulations brought up to date so we can deliver simple-to-use

and easier fares for our customers.”

RDG chief executive Paul Plummer added that he wanted to create “an easier-to-use fares system”.

He said: “Reforming the rules about how tickets are sold and bought has the potential to transform the buying experience for customers, making it easier for people to be confident they are getting the right ticket.

“These reforms support what the industry is already doing to make improvements to fares alongside record investment in new train carriages, upgraded stations and extra services.”

Research commissioned by the RDG found that only one in three passengers (34 per cent) are “very confident” they bought the best value ticket for their last journey, and just 29 per cent were “very satisfied” with the ticket-buying experience.

Speaking on behalf of the Dorset Chamber of Commerce, Dr Adam Marshall, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said: “Businesspeople across the UK and in Dorset tell us that finding the best rail fare for their journey is as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack.

“This consultation is not before time but we are pleased that the rail industry is tackling the issue head on, and will encourage businesses in every sector and every region to make their voices heard.

“Businesses depend on rail to meet clients and suppliers, and to ensure many of their employees can get to work.

“A simple to use, easier fare system is needed, both for those who use the railway on an occasional basis and those whose livelihoods depend on rail journeys each and every day.

“More transparent fares and rules will also help boost confidence and trust amongst businesses.”

The consultation is hosted on britainrunsonrail.co.uk and involves a questionnaire that can be completed online or by post.