Passengers on LNER could pay twice as much as they need because of new ticket loophole

Thousands of rail travellers on Britain’s flagship rail line face paying almost twice as much as they need, because the government-run train operator is refusing to disclose new, cheaper fares.

As a result, some passengers on the East Coast main line will pay almost twice the best-value fare for flexible off-peak single journeys.

LNER, which runs trains from London King’s Cross to Leeds, Newcastle and Edinburgh, has introduced trial one-way off-peak fares at exactly half the price of a return – in sharp contrast to conventional pricing, whereby singles are only £1 less than off-peak returns.

The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, told BBC Breakfast he was “ending the rip-off that you pay for a single ticket almost as much as you pay for a return journey”.

The new flexible off-peak fare to London from Leeds is £58.35; from Newcastle, £72.85; and from Edinburgh, £75.75.

Crucially, the trial fares are valid for any permitted route and any train operator. So although the new deal is aimed at only the three leading cities, almost anyone needing a “walk-up” ticket for a long-distance trip on the East Coast main line – and many other journeys in Britain – can save money by availin​g of the new fares.

But LNER, which is run by the government, says passengers using intermediate stations will not be told about the new low fares. A spokesman for the train operator said: “Customers will be sold the journey they request.”

The most extreme example of passengers paying more than they need is between Stevenage, north of King’s Cross, to Durham, south of Newcastle.

Any passenger unwise enough buy an off-peak ticket from one to the other will pay £145.20. That is 99.3 per cent more than the new low fare from London to Newcastle. The latter ticket covers the Stevenage-Durham trip and dozens of other possible journeys.

The Independent made a test purchase at a ticket office for one-way journey from York to London on Sunday 5 January. All Sunday trains are classed as off-peak.

The only flexible option initially offered cost £115.70. After prompting, the staff member found the Newcastle-London fare of £72.85, saving 37 per cent on the original price.

The LNER spokesperson said: “We have chosen routes where people have a choice between car, plane and train. We know fares complexity can deter some from travelling by train, so we wanted to run a trial to encourage more people to travel by train.

“Whilst we do believe that we will see a number of benefits as a result of the trial, it is important for us to run a test in the real world before potentially introducing on other routes. We welcome feedback from customers as part of this trial.”

The concept of “single-leg pricing” is regarded across the rail industry as a positive development. Yet with so much potential revenue at stake, it is unclear why the trial is not limited to point-to-point trips on LNER between the two stations on the ticket.

Another possibly unintended consequence of the extremely flexible new fares is that many passengers travelling on the West Coast main line will save significantly by taking advantage of Edinburgh-London tickets intended for use on the East Coast route.

Under national rules, an “Any Permitted Route” ticket between the Scottish and English capitals can be used on hundreds of different journey permutations.

Between Carlisle and Milton Keynes, for example, travellers will save one-third on the normal £106.80 off-peak single if they buy a ticket from Edinburgh to London. They need not visit either capital, nor travel on LNER at any stage. They simply board a direct Avanti train.

Passengers on the East Midlands line between Sheffield and St Albans will save an even greater percentage by asking for Leeds-London ticket – cutting the £94.20 fare by 38 per cent.

Nicky Gardner, co-editor of Europe By Rail, said the fare anomalies created by LNER may not last long. She predicted that the train operator could “insert an extra clause in the fare conditions to preclude journeys starting or ending at any station other than those specified on the ticket”.

Mark Smith, the former British Rail manager who now runs the Seat61.com international rail website, said: “This is temporary, it’s a trial, and it really needs to happen.

“I’m all for it, as if successful it could unlock the solution to what I consider the single biggest issue making longer-distance fares more complicated than they need to be.”

A spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group, representing train operators, said: “We are committed to working with government to give passengers the simpler, more logical and transparent fares they want.

All the quoted fares are eligible for standard railcard discounts.