"Plans for rail pass for UK staycationers axed over cost concerns" - Guardian

[Andy Kirkham]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/29/plans-for-rail-pass-for-uk-staycationers-axed-over-cost-concerns

 

Plans to boost domestic tourism by introducing a rail pass for British staycationers have been axed, the Guardian can reveal.

The idea was initially heralded by the government as a way to help struggling businesses get back on their feet as the final Covid restrictions were being lifted in the summer of 2021, but extensive consultations since have found it would not be commercially viable.

The special ticket was intended to be modelled on the BritRail pass, which is sold through VisitBritain and allows foreign tourists unlimited journeys on most train lines across England, Wales and Scotland.

It is sold as a way of encouraging visitors to travel to attractions across the country, letting them “discover the hidden gems of Britain anytime, on any train,” at “great value for money”.

As the final unlocking of restrictions approached, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said in a widely reported announcement in June 2021 that a similar rail pass for staycationers would be launched “later this year”. However, more than 18 months later, the plan has not come to fruition.

In an update to the tourism recovery plan quietly released this month, the department said that the “domestic rail tourism product” had been axed.

Extensive research by DCMS, alongside the Department for Transport, the Rail Delivery Group and VisitBritain, found that such a product “would not provide value for money for customers” if it were commercially viable.

“The government will work with VisitBritain and the rail operators to find alternative ways to encourage more people to use UK rail networks to enjoy the leisure and tourism offer around the country”, the document noted.

The decision will come as a blow to struggling tourism and hospitality firms, which are already struggling given the cost of living crisis and high inflation. DCMS acknowledged this, saying the short-term focus was “still on recovery” – especially for parts of the country particularly damaged by the loss of tourist numbers and spending since 2019.

Richard Toomer, the executive director of the Tourism Alliance and a member of the government’s Tourism Industry Council, said it was disappointing that the idea had been dropped.

He said it would have been “a great way to encourage people to explore the regions and nations of the UK”, and that rail travel was “a very sustainable form of transport too”, helpful for travellers who are “keenly aware of wanting to travel sustainably”.

Toomer said: “We raised this at a meeting of the Tourism Industry Council last week and we will be working with the government to understand the difficulties and seeing if there’s a way through them.”

Labour called the decision “another broken promise from this government on our rail services”. Louise Haigh, the shadow transport secretary, said: “The shambolic state of our rail network is already hurting tourism and connectivity up and down the country. The next Labour government will put passengers back at the heart of our railways, better connecting the country and unlocking jobs and growth.”

 

I suppose the problem is that standard fares are so high that any affordable Britrail-style ticket would undercut them and lead to loss of the income from premium tickets.

 

Let's hope they come up with some alternative schemes to make leisure travel cheaper. 

Edited March 29, 2023 by Andy Kirkham

[009 micro modeller]

While this sounds like a good idea, what would it do that all-line rovers and similar don’t do? Also I wonder if the ‘not value for money’ comment relates to the number of people who would actually find that it was better value than just buying the correct off-peak/advance (cheaper) fares for the journeys they need.

[Wheatley]

Month Britrail pass valid in first class £578. 

 

All line 7 day first class Railrover - £866. 

 

Yikes. 

[jjb1970]

13 hours ago, Wheatley said:

Month Britrail pass valid in first class £578. 

 

All line 7 day first class Railrover - £866. 

 

Yikes. 

 

That's barely more than I was paying for a monthly season ticket Milton Keynes- London, second class!!! No worried they don't want to let the locals anywhere near it🤔

[BoD]

A few years ago the then minister and now Lord Adonis went on a rail fact finding tour using an all line rover.  After him saying publicly what good value for money it was, the price was hiked up considerably.

[The Stationmaster]

I recall (dimly) seeing some 1st Class 'all Lines; annual season tickets back in the late 19760s.  these were usually sold for the use of commercxial travellers and other company reps and covered the entire BR network.  the price - for a year - was around £1,100👀

[DY444]

On 29/03/2023 at 19:58, Wheatley said:

Month Britrail pass valid in first class £578. 

 

All line 7 day first class Railrover - £866. 

 

Yikes. 

 

This is an ongoing bug bear of mine.  I know that tourism boosts the economy and all that but I can't help feeling there's something fundamentally wrong with UK residents, whose tax props the whole railway up, being made to pay substantially more than visitors.  Also, and iirc, the travel restrictions imposed (for no reason other than greed as far as I can see) on the ALR do not apply to the Britrail pass.

[009 micro modeller]

14 minutes ago, DY444 said:

 

This is an ongoing bug bear of mine.  I know that tourism boosts the economy and all that but I can't help feeling there's something fundamentally wrong with UK residents, whose tax props the whole railway up, being made to pay substantially more than visitors.  Also, and iirc, the travel restrictions imposed (for no reason other than greed as far as I can see) on the ALR do not apply to the Britrail pass.

Also it just seems contrary to the way things normally work - if anything, you’d expect the tourist version to be more expensive.

[Wheatley]

If the tourist version was any more expensive they wouldn't sell any, even to Americans, because travel agents would soon cotton on that it was cheaper to by AP tickets and advise their customers accordingly. The market is limited (compared to the UK commuter population, even after Covid) so the loss is limited. And this is a loss leader. 

 

If the Rail Rovers were cheaper than season ticket, or prices to match the BRP then they wouldn't sell any seasons and they too would become a loss leader, which is financially unsustainable for the industry.  

[johnofwessex]

I suspect that the perception, probably true is that 'Britrail' pass users are tourists so dont flog the pass in the way that the Enthusiasts who buy all line rovers do.

 

Many years ago nationwide did a funny review of a holiday offered by BA to the American market, you got a return flight from New York to London, a Britrail pass and two weeks accommodation in a boarding house in Port Talbot.  The reporter spent some time exploring the joys of Port Talbot

[adb968008]

Always make an “all reservation” ticket that goes in a straight line, ie no doubling back, or not using the same route out and return more than once  ?

 

tourists dont commute afterall.

 

 

 

 

[Andy Kirkham]

On 30/03/2023 at 18:28, The Stationmaster said:

I recall (dimly) seeing some 1st Class 'all Lines; annual season tickets back in the late 19760s.  these were usually sold for the use of commercxial travellers and other company reps and covered the entire BR network.  the price - for a year - was around £1,100👀

In the 1990s my girlfriend at the time had one. She worked for Royal Mail. The ticket was strictly for work-related journeys.

[The Stationmaster]

Britrail Passes sold in the USA used to come - back in the 1960s - with the promise of '1,000 miles of rail travel for $XXX'.  In the late 1960s I was relieving in one of the ex GWR ' Town Offices' in London when a US tourist came in to ascertain exactly how he would get his 1,000 miles.  He wasn't over interested in where he went - apart from Edin-bo-ro, Canter-bury, and York - as long as he got his 1,000 miles.  So I duly worked out an itinerary for him and got it up to just short of 1,200 miles within the period of validity of his Britrail Pass.  He wen t away as the happiest tourist in Britain because he was convinced that he was getting more than he'd paid for.

 

A chap who had for some years been the BR Sales rep on the West Coast of the USA told me that he'd spent lot of his time getting airlines to buy in to selling Britrail Passes as they seemed to get more customers than many travel agencies did.  One of his promotional items was the ability to offer the right sales contacts free Britrail Passes to encourage them to use them and then tell their customers how great they were - which seemed to work.  (And yes - in return?  -  he did get airline freebies.)