Regular train users have given a decidedly lukewarm response to the launch of part-time season tickets in England this week. The government had promised big discounts for workers who are travelling less but, for many, the deal is no better than other options that were already available.
After wrestling with the issue for years, the Department for Transport has launched the flexi season ticket, which it hopes will get commuters back on the trains – if and when office life resumes in earnest. They can be used from Monday 28 June.
But rather than, as hoped, offering daily fares close to what commuters would already pay with the conventional annual season ticket, discounts have been dismissed by consumer groups as so disappointing they will only “drive more travellers back into their cars”.
One Brighton commuter told Guardian Money he would be better off buying existing tickets for his trips, while others have calculated they would save only £7 a year.
Our own research suggests that the previously available carnet tickets offered bigger discounts.
Equally, heading into the office after 9.30am, or using railcards for return trips, will offer workers much bigger savings.
The flexi tickets provide customers with eight days of travel in any 28 days, all between two named stations. Users pre-buy the journeys loaded on a smartcard, or via a mobile app, and use as required. Each return ticket runs up until 4.29am the following day, so users can travel home after midnight.
The Department for Transport says the tickets have been priced “between an anytime day return and a seven-day season ticket”, offering savings for commuters travelling during peak times two or three days a week.
It claims regular users could save as much as £350 a year using the new tickets.
Unlike standard season tickets, flexi tickets are not available in first class and cannot be used on Transport for London services, so commuters to the capital still need to pay on arrival.
Also, there is no…