Flexible season tickets on sale, saving hundreds of pounds for rail passengers

• #TheFutureIsFlexible as 2 and 3 day-a-week passengers given control over their commute, with potential savings of hundreds of pounds against daily and season tickets.
• Online ‘season ticket calculator’ will help passengers find the cheapest option as flexible season tickets go on sale from Monday 21^st June, in use from Monday 28^th.
• New "book with confidence” guarantee on Advance tickets allows passengers to rebook journeys or receive rail vouchers without an admin fee if plans change.

New national flexible rail tickets, matching modern working habits and saving passengers hundreds of pounds, will be available to commuters across England from next week.

The launch of flexible season tickets is the first step in the reform of the railways, as part of the recently launched Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail.

The paperless tickets will allow travel on any eight days in a 28-day period, with passengers able to tap smartcards or scan mobiles at the station, with no need to select the days of travel in advance.

The change has the potential to save commuters hundreds of pounds, providing greater choice and flexibility.

Commuters can visit an updated online ‘season ticket calculator’ website, which will point people to the best tickets for them based on their journey, working pattern and individual needs, ensuring they get the deal that suits them.

To encourage more passengers to travel by rail, for the rest of this year (until 31 December 2021) train companies will also offer a "book with confidence” guarantee, allowing people to rebook journeys or receive rail vouchers without an admin fee if their plans change.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

“Our railways work best when they are reliable, rapid and affordable.

“As we kickstart the biggest reforms to our railways in a generation flexible season tickets are the first step. They give us greater freedom and choice about how we travel, simpler ticketing and a fairer fare.

“With a season ticket calculator to see which option works best for you, and a book with confidence guarantee to make journeys stress-free, the future of fares is flexible.”

Robert Nisbet, Director of Nations and Regions at the Rail Delivery Group said:

“We’ve worked with government to introduce the new Flexi Season ticket, which goes on sale today, to give commuters the freedom and flexibility to divide their time between home and the office.

“The rail industry is helping people travel and book with confidence by providing better journey information, boosting cleaning and helping them change a booked journey fee free should their circumstances change.”

The launch of flexible season tickets is the first step in the reform of the railways, as part of the recently launched Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail.

This new national offer also reflects the long-term decline in the use of traditional season tickets, with a change in working practices having been accelerated by the outbreak of Covid-19.

Kirstie Allsop, TV presenter and consumer champion, said:

“As everyone tries to negotiate the balance between the office and working from home, and work out how, and where, they want to live, this initiative is really helpful.

“Using the season ticket calculator will also help people see which option gives them the best possible deal.”

Matthew Fell, CBI Chief UK Policy Director, said:

“CBI members have told us that hybrid working is likely to be the long-term norm for many firms, with employees splitting their week between home and onsite working.

“It is therefore essential that public transport networks reflect these new habits.

“The introduction of flexible season tickets will help to ensure rail travel remains an affordable and realistic option for commuters, while future-proofing a network which has a key role to play in the UK’s decarbonisation ambitions.”

Analysis shows that two day-a-week commuters buying multiple new flexible season tickets could save the following in a year when compared to the cost of daily tickets:

• Over £260 from Woking to London
• Over £210 from York to Leeds
• Over £60 from Southampton Central to Winchester
• Over £170 from Stafford to Birmingham
• Over £230 from Liverpool to Manchester

Three day-a-week commuters could save:

• Over £230 from St Albans City to London
• Over £110 from Bromsgrove to Birmingham
• Over £90 from Weston-Super-Mare to Bristol Temple Meads
• Over £350 from Chelmsford to Stratford

Additional quotes

Kevin Ellis, Senior Partner and Chairman at PwC UK, said:

"With flexible working here to stay, it’s good to see a new flexible season ticket that matches people’s needs."

Huw Evans, the Director General of the Association of British Insurers said,

“Affordable flexibility for public transport users is key if we are to strike a good balance between office and home working as we emerge from the pandemic.

“As a sector that has committed to its biggest ever expansion of flexible working, insurers and long-term savings providers will welcome this announcement which will make it easier for flexible working, job-sharing and part-time working.”

Editor’s notes

The fare calculator will be available at: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk from Monday 21 June.

Notes:

• Table contents based on the top flows by season ticket journeys in financial year 2019/20 for South Western Railway, Southeastern, GTR, Great Western, West Midlands Railway, East Midlands Railway, Northern, Transpennine Express and Greater Anglia as being representative high-volume operators. These are then grouped into London, South, West, West Midlands, North West, North East, and East regions.
• We have compared the cost of commuting two or three times per week using the cheapest available alternative commuter ticket to the Flexible Season ticket to show the potential savings over the course of a year. The alternative product is the peak return ticket for all flows other than those denoted by * where it is the annual season ticket.
• For this comparison we have assumed that passengers travel to work 90 days a year if they commute twice per week and 135 days a year if they commute three time per week. This is based on the assumption of 225 working days per year for a full-time worker.
• The savings presented are illustrative and based on the assumption that commuters are unlikely to commute to work by train for some weeks or days of the year due to annual leave, bank holidays etc.
• We have updated the figures presented in the press release of 20 May using actual flexible season ticket prices now that the pricing has been finalised by the train companies.

The national flexi season ticket will be available on all DfT-franchised train operating companies.

New flexible tickets allow travel on any 8 days in a 28 day period. Passengers won't have to choose the days in advance of travel and they don't have to be spaced out in any particular way over the ticket's validity period.

New flexible tickets are aimed at passengers who travel two to three days a week on average. Passengers who travel four or more days a week will usually be better off with conventional seasons, which will still be available. Those who travel less frequently may be better off buying daily tickets.