Train passengers not getting fare price
20 August 2009
Poor advice from rail staff means that some passengers could be paying more than double the cheapest train fare, reveals an investigation by Which?
The consumer champion asked staff at station ticket offices and the National Rail Enquiries (NRE) call centre about the cheapest way to take specific journeys by train*. Two thirds of station clerks and four in ten call centre staff failed to quote the cheapest fare, with the correct answer given in just 93 out of 200 questions**.
Where there was a choice of train company, Which? was quoted the more expensive fare 27 out of 50 times, with 80% of ticket offices ignoring the cheaper option. In some cases, the fare quoted was more than double the cheapest available option***.
When asked about making the same journey twice in one week, two thirds of staff gave the price of two returns, although a rover or season ticket would have been better value****.
More than half the questions about breaking a journey en route were answered incorrectly***** and when asked about journeys close to the end of a peak period, staff tended not to mention that delaying the time of departure - sometimes by just a few minutes - could result in savings******.
Which? also checked how efficient lost property offices were, and found that five out of 16 train stations failed to contact owners when it handed in a coat and wallet clearly labelled with a name and phone number. At one station, the coat was returned to the owner, but not the wallet or the cash it contained******.
Martyn Hocking, editor of Which? magazine, says:
“If you just want to know the cheapest way to get from A to B, you’d expect staff at the station ticket office or on the end of the rail enquiries helpline to be able to tell you. It’s not acceptable that passengers could be paying well over the odds because of poor advice. Rail firms must ensure that staff are properly trained and that fare information is clear.”
When Which? checked the quality of rail fare advice in 2007, station staff answered 60% of questions correctly and call centre staff answered 40% correctly.
- Ends –
Notes to Editor
The articles “A fare price?” and “Tracking down lost property” appear in the September 2009 issue of Which? magazine. For further information, the full article, a copy of the magazine or an interview, please contact Nicola Frame.
* Which? devised 20 journey scenarios with a rail fares expert, and tested them at stations across the country and on the phone to the National Rail Enquiries (NRE) helpline, during June 2009. Each scenario was tested 10 times – five times at stations and five times over the phone. All scenarios related to walk-up fares rather than advance fares.
** Station ticket office clerks answered 35/100 questions correctly and NRE staff answered 58/100 questions correctly.
*** e.g. London to Grantham: many quoted £57 (National Express East Coast), when the cheapest fare was £22 (First Hull Trains) for a journey departing at around the same time.
**** 40/60 staff did not mention season ticket or rover ticket savings.
***** Which? asked about the cheapest way to make a journey involving an overnight stop en route. 36/60 questions about breaking journeys were answered incorrectly.
****** 16/30 staff did not mention cheaper fares outside peak hours.
****** Which? handed in a coat and wallet containing £22, clearly labelled with the owner’s name and phone number, to lost property offices at the following stations: Brighton, Bromley South, Cambridge, Cardiff Central, Colchester North, Crewe, Edinburgh Waverley, Glasgow Central, Gloucester, Leicester, London King’s Cross, London Waterloo, Luton, Manchester Piccadilly, Plymouth and Sheffield.
Five stations had not contacted the owner two weeks later: Glasgow Central, London King’s Cross, London Waterloo, Manchester Piccadilly, Sheffield.
Luton station returned the coat, but the wallet and £22 cash were missing. Staff were unable to explain what had happened.