First-class rail for just a fraction more than standard

Warrington Bank Quay is typical of the brutally functional stations that litter the West Coast main line linking the capital with northwest England. Thankfully, though, it is easy enough to leave: there are trains at least hourly for the Lakes and Scotland, and non-stop Avanti West Coast trains taking well under two hours to London Euston. But finding myself there on Tuesday afternoon, the £68.60 for a one-way off-peak ticket to the capital was off-putting – with, I noticed, a 150 per cent premium for first class.

Being in no great hurry, I opted to save the odd £20 by changing at Crewe for one of the slower (but clean and comfortable) London Northwestern Railway services to Euston. They are always priced at a discount to Avanti.

What I needed, then, was a ticket for the 17-minute run to Crewe. Yet instead of paying £13.80 in standard, the first class premium is a very slim £2.20 – or 15 per cent.

On inter-city routes, first class usually costs about 50 per cent more than the most expensive “anytime” standard tickets, but during off-peak spells they are often two or three times as much as the cheapest standard fare on the day.

How could I resist the allure of a wider, more comfortable seat and a complimentary cup of tea for the price of, well, a cup of railway tea? On board, one passenger decided that a late afternoon gin and tonic was just what the train doctor ordered. I stuck with the tea, but I thoroughly enjoyed the 24-mile hop while the Cheshire plain raced past the window.

Using first class for short journeys also works on the East Coast main line from London King’s Cross. I see that tomorrow’s 8.33am to Stevenage – just 21 minutes north – is one-third pricier in first than standard. While you can’t expect the excellent LNER breakfast during that short hop, you are allowed to use the lounge at the London terminus.

On social media, people with even more time on their hands than me brag about getting a gin and tonic for just 20p – the difference between first and standard on their inter-city adventures.

A weird phenomenon, though, is the occasional habit of London Northwestern to sell advance first-class tickets cheaper than standard for the same journey. Why would any train operator discount its premium product?

Well, I infer that the firm is cannily carving up the market. There is no measurable comfort difference between first and standard, and certainly no generous attendants plying you with tea or something stronger.

Given the market segment of travellers like me who are prepared to trade half-an-hour of time on a long journey (Crewe to London is 158 miles) for a large cash saving, incentivising us to fill up first class means we don’t get in the way of the operator’s main market: people who wants to travel from Milton Keynes to Rugby (33 miles) or from Tamworth to Stafford (23 miles), always in standard.

What London Northwestern has developed isn’t so much first class as long-distance or inter-city class.

Avanti West Coast is also segmenting the market. But the attempt to fill posh seats in the shape of “standard premium” needs some pricing attention.

After the collapse of business travel during the coronavirus pandemic, the operator has rebranded one of the first-class carriages as a middle option: the deal is no free food or drink, but more space.

As I walked through the train from Warrington to find my well-appointed seat, what separated a busy standard section from a quiet first-class area was a completely empty standard premium carriage. How much will the travelling public pay for just a touch of class?