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By Sarah Modlock
We're constantly told that public transport is the ideal choice if we want to save the planet and avoid the cost of running a car. But for millions that have to take the train to work or need it to visit friends or family or make business meetings, the soaring prices and poor service on many lines make us a captive audience which is getting fleeced more and more each year. The latest reports suggest that rail fares could rise by as much as 15 per cent next year, despite claims by rail bosses that fares would rise by an overage of just 1.1 per cent, in line with inflation. While the cost of regulated fares (which includes season tickets, savers and standard day returns) is predicted to fall next year by 0.4 per cent, around 60 per cent of fares are not regulated, and will see substantial hikes. This includes off-peak returns, most cheap day returns as well as long distance open, leisure and advanced fare tickets. First Great Western has said that one of its tickets from London to Swindon will rise by 15 per cent. Southeastern, meanwhile, plans a 7.2 per cent rise on unregulated fares and Virgin Trains, which operates trains from London to Scotland, has said said its unregulated fares were rising by an average of 2.8 per cent. 8 ways to beat the train fare increases I wish I could wave a magic wand and help commuters everywhere get a fairer deal. Unfortunately, most of the money-saving tricks work around non-commuter fares.... 1. Buy in advance. Turn up at the station on the day you want to travel and you will certainly pay more. If you can, booking up to three months in advance will cut costs but you can still save money up until 7pm the night before you travel. Just be sure that you can travel on the day you book for as there are no refunds and only very limited changes allowed. Off-peak or Anytime fares offer greater flexibility. 2. Buy online. Obviously, the Trainline is not going to be much help (see below) but check out the website of the train operators for online discounts and special offers. It's also worth phoning them as they often have separate discounts for telephone customers. Just make sure you read the online information carefully so you know about any admin costs. As cost-cutting is expected to see hundreds of ticket offices closed down, the internet will become even more crucial for researching and buying tickets. The staff in ticket offices must give impartial advice but the machines that will replace some of them just list a choice of fares which may not include the cheapest options on the first page. It's not going to be easy finding good deals at the machine with your train arriving in a few minutes and a queue of tutting people behind you. 3. Get a railcard. These can save you a third off train fares if you're under 26 (Young Person 16-25 Railcard, www.16-25railcard.co.uk); over 60 (www.senior-railcard.co.uk); a family or group of friends with at least one child (www. familyrailcard.co.uk); if you suffer from certain disabilities (www.disabledpersonsrailcard.co.uk). They often pay for themselves after just one long-distance journey. There are certain restrictions which you can check at the relevant websites. For a summary of all railcards see railcard.co.uk. 4. Consider two singles rather than a return. This can be cheaper on some - but not all - trips so you need to check details on a case by case basis. It's very simple on most websites to compare the options or check Railsaver.co.uk. 5. Split your ticket. This trick involves buying two or more tickets each way for a trip. It's completely within the law and an accepted approach for rail users. You don't actually get off the train, you don't even need to change seats necessarily, but you buy sections of the journey, rather than the whole thing in one. Find out where the train is stopping on the way to your destination and check the price of combining several single tickets rather than one ticket for the whole journey. There are plenty of websites dedicated to this that can tell you instantly how to break the journey, or you can just look at the Transport Direct journey planner or the timetables section of the National Rail website and work it out yourself. You just need to make sure the train is stopping at the station where you 'break' your journey up. 6. Claim for delays. It pays to know your rights so if your train arrives more than an hour later than its advertised time, you are entitled to vouchers worth a minimum of 20 per cent of the cost of the ticket on which you are travelling. 7. Cut the cost of calling National Rail Enquiries. It's a helpful service but it's on an 0845 number so you can cut your phone bill by calling 0121 634 2040 and then pressing option one. 8. Save on Eurostar. Mark Smith, who runs the popular train and ship travel website www.seat61.com says that for one-way trips on Eurostar, it's often cheaper to buy a return ticket and throw away the return portion. Book online direct and there's no booking fee to pay. "You can also buy through-tickets from 68 UK towns to Paris or Brussels, which are often better value than buying separate domestic tickets too," he says. "Alternatively, if you need a ticket to London to connect with Eurostar, ask your local station or National Rail about tickets to 'London International CIV'. These are a well-kept secret, and they can work out to be cheaper than normal tickets to London, especially if you need to travel at peak times. They also include the Underground to St Pancras." Trainline complaints soar In the summer, the consumer group Which? warned passengers to think twice before they use online rail booking system Trainline after the Office of Fair Trading said complaints about the service have increased threefold. Reports of problems, including incorrect payment amounts, difficulties with cancelling tickets and obtaining refunds, and tickets not arriving on time, rose from just 91 in 2006 to 276 in 2008, according to the OFT, a jump which coincides with the buyout of Trainline by a private equity company Exponent in June 2006 Trainline operates 14 out of 18 online-booking websites, including those for Virgin, Chiltern and South-Western trains. The problems arise when users of the service find it hard to get their problems resolved because the firm is a third party and the rail companies themselves cannot provide refunds or compensation for tickets bought through Trainline. This is not helped by the way Trainline is marketed - customers usually access the site after clicking through to get ticket quotes and may not realise that they are dealing with a third party. Many are also angry about the additional costs Trainline imposes, such as the £1 booking fee to post tickets, £2.50 to process credit card payments and even 50p for debit card payments. If you opt to collect your tickets from a self-service machine at the station, the firm applies a 50p 'collection fee'. Trainline has also come under fire for its cynical use of 'opt-out' travel insurance, where customers are charged £2 for cover they may not want or need unless they spot the tick-box option before they pay. Passenger Focus, the rail consumer watchdog, is urging people to buy directly from the train operators' websites rather than use thetrainline.com. Ashwin Kumar, director of Passenger Focus has also heard from unhappy travellers: "We continue to get complaints about Trainline and the number of unhappy passengers is increasing. We have had several meetings with them and are keen to ensure that they address our concerns." Which? agrees and urges travellers to think twice before using the site. "Charges can mount up and you can often buy your ticket more cheaply by booking directly with the train company you are travelling with," said a spokesman. How to complain.... If you have a complaint about Trainline.com or any other online-booking service run by the website, first complain to Trainline and then the train operator. If this fails, go to Passenger Focus (passengerfocus.org.uk) which can seek compensation on your behalf. In some cases, it can obtain five times the compensation that a customer receives if they seek redress independently. Off the rails Trainline is far from the only blight on our rail service. Endless engineering work disrupts travel and bumps up costs. The fines track companies get for letting the engineering over-run are ultimately passed onto customers. With many trains running late, always over-crowded and usually dirty, many rail users are not just fed up now, they have endured for years, with rail firms making bumper profits as services decline. Earlier this year, regulated fares, which include season tickets and off-peak services, rose by an average of 6%. Unregulated fares which include advance purchase tickets increased by an average of 7%. In many areas, ticket costs have risen by as much as 11%, causing misery for commuters. Loopholes in the regulation system continue to allow huge hikes - the Department for Transport only caps average increases across each franchise, allowing train companies to vary ticket prices by up to 5% above inflation. So far, the government has refused to intervene despite pressure from Passenger Focus and other consumer groups along with opposition parties. Meanwhile, rail firms made a combined profit of £330 million in the six months to the end of last year. With average salaries of £1 million each, rail bosses can afford to travel first class every time, even if they didn't get free travel. Network Rail, the stone in the shoe of many rail passengers, was this year told to rethink the £600,000 per head bonuses it was paying to directors to avoid a public outcry. The bonuses were paid out despite the network being fined a record £14m for three serious engineering overruns, during the 2007 - 08 Christmas and new year period. Only chief executive Iain Coucher opted not to take his.
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