A new appeal to make rail fares in rural areas more affordable has been made to the Strategic Rail Authority.

There is enormous scope for developing local residents railcards which attract more people on to trains, said Dr Paul Salveson, general manager of the Association of Community-Rail Partnerships.

But he said ACORP which represents 35 rail partnerships across the UK is not asking for blanket fares reductions.

ACORP is responding to the Strategic Rail Authority's consultation on Fares Policy, which ended on October 11th.

ACORP mentions successful local railcard schemes already operating in the Yorkshire Dales, Devon, Cornwall, Esk Valley and the Scottish Highlands.

Most of these have been set up by ACORP members working in collaboration with train operating companies.

The local railcards don't just offer lower fares to people living in rural areas, says Dr Salveson.

They also generate additional revenue for train operators, despite the ticket prices being between a third and half of the normal fare. They encourage lots more people to travel, on trains which often have spare seating capacity.

Most rural railcards cost between £5 and £10.

We have tried to adopt a realistic stance on fares, says Dr Salveson. It's pointless holding fares down on services which are already overcrowded.

We're not saying people should be priced off rail, but there needs to be a more focused approach to encouraging people to use services - particularly on rural lines - which can cope with extra passengers.

Dr Salveson said that on busier routes, it's reasonable to let fares rise roughly in line with inflation.

ACORP also calls for more encouragement for through fares between bus and train.

The Journey Solutions initiative, involving bus and rail operators working together on combined fares, needs much more backing from the Government.

Many more towns and villages which have no train service should be part of the national rail fares system, with good quality buses linking into rail stations.

Key points from ACORP's submission:

There is a need to strike a balance between attractive pre-booked fares, and flexible and affordable walk-on fares. There should be a standard range of tickets which is used by all operators, with standard terms and conditions applied to apex tickets and Savers. These should be subject to massive publicity campaigns to overcome current misconceptions that train fares are excessively high (based on references to standard fares quoted in the media)

Local residents's railcards have proved successful in generating additional passengers and extra revenue on many rural lines. The SRA should encourage these local initiatives which help fill up spare capacity on secondary routes, and create a community identification with the railway. The SRA should require continuation of existing railcard schemes in new franchises.

Passenger Transport Executive fares structures, including multi-modal tickets, have helped attract thousands of people to public transport and should be retained, and developed on a regional basis, overcoming current railheading from outside PTE areas to stations just within the PTE boundary.

Initiatives such as Journey Solutions which help to encourage inter-modal ticketing between bus and train operators, should be strongly encouraged. We need to think beyond the train, and encourage promotional fares and tickets for bus users, cyclists and motorists.

The current RPI-1% formula is not sustainable and fares on busy commuter routes should be allowed to rise broadly in line with inflation. Strong encouragement to travel in the off-peak, and against busy flows (including during the peak, e.g. out from London) should be encouraged. Fares should not fluctuate according to performance. There are other more direct ways of penalising poor performance, through Passengers Charter provisions.

Fares must be collected on trains, particularly where trains serve unstaffed stations. We remain concerned at the reluctance of some railway staff to collect fares on certain local services. Larger stations should have staff at barriers to deter fare evasion, who can also provide information and other assistance. A new standard ticket-issuing machine to replace the cumbersome and slow sportis machine should be developed.

There should be greater encouragement to third parties who are interested in acting as ticket retail agents. There are plenty of good examples around (Gobowen, Ludlow, Ledbury etc.) but more effort should be made to encourage this kind of development which brings a staffed rail presence back to towns and villages which have not had such facilities for many years.

A Fares and Ticketing Panel should be established as a consultative forum for operators, SRA and Rail Passengers Council to discuss fares issues generally.

ACORPS's full submission can be seen at www.acorp.uk.com

The Association of Community-Rail Partnerships can be contacted at Brian Jackson Centre, New North Parade, Huddersfield HD1 5JP Phone: 01484 549737 Fax: 01484 544234
Email: paul at thecarriage.freeserve.co.uk
07971 884241