Travelling between Scotland and England is always a bit of a faff. Either you have to get a 50-minute flight and spend the entire day feeling guilty about your carbon footprint, drive just a little bit too far, or pray there aren’t strikes/delays/adverse weather conditions on your train journey. LNER want to make rail journeys a little bit easier, so naturally they’re putting prices up.
Okay, that’s unfair. From February, the way that fares work on journeys between London and Edinburgh will change, at least on LNER trains. At the moment there are at least ten different types of train fare, but next month the company will trial three simplified fees. Travellers will have a choice of anytime, advance, and the brand new 70-minute flexi option.
This new ticket will cost £20 more than the current ‘advance’ fair, which is only valid on one train by one provider. For the extra money, you can choose to travel on any train 70 minutes before or after your original booking, making the journey fit around you, rather than the other way around.
The scheme is the first of its kind in the UK. LNER’s managing director, David Horne, hopes that it will simplify rail travel for customers who often report that they ‘find fares confusing.’ According to him, ‘making fares simpler, smarter, and fairer, while introducing value for money and modern flexibility, will encourage more people to choose to travel by rail, the most sustainable travel choice.’
Not everyone is a fan of the proposed system. Some argue that it doesn’t do enough to actually make rail travel less complex, and instead offers a more expensive, non-refundable ticket with less actual wriggle room.
Mark Smith, former British Rail manager and founder of Seat61, criticised the move on X (formerly known as Twitter), stating that: ‘This new fares structure is Anytime, Advance & Advance, in other words fully-flexible, inflexible with a little flex, and inflexible.’
His advice following the change? ‘London-Edinburgh passengers [should] buy a London-Haymarket Off-Peak ticket for a fixed-price £87, refundable, good via any permitted route, good for any operator.’
Whatever fare you end up buying, the one piece of advice we can give is never forget to bring your railcard, or you might end up with a huge fine or, worse, being publicly humiliated.
Did you know that Eurostar is currently having a flash sale?
Plus: London Tube fares could be getting dynamic pricing.
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