Cut-price train tickets to lure commuters back on Mondays and Fridays

Govia Thameslink Railway has started selling more Advance tickets for some of its Southern services during morning and evening peak periods.

GTR, Britain’s biggest train company, is offering cheaper tickets to encourage more commuters back to the office on Mondays and Fridays (Kirsty O’Connor/PA) (PA Archive)

Britain’s biggest train company is offering cheaper tickets to encourage more commuters to return to offices on Mondays and Fridays.

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) said it has started selling Advance tickets for travel on some of its Southern services during the morning and evening peak periods on those days, saving passengers up to 15%.

The coronavirus pandemic has led to a major change in travel patterns, with many commuters only heading into offices on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

GTR said its morning peak services only carry around 210,000 passengers on Mondays, compared with between 230,000 and 250,000 on each of the middle three days of the working week.

On Fridays – which were a quieter day even before the pandemic – the figure drops to around 160,000.

Mondays and Fridays are unsurprisingly less popular with our customers

Jenny Saunders, Govia Thameslink Railway

Advance tickets – which are cheaper than walk-up fares – have previously only been available for off-peak services to cater for leisure passengers.

They are now available as a trial for some services in both directions between three major London stations – Victoria, Clapham Junction and East Croydon – and stations south from Three Bridges in West Sussex.

This extends as far east as Eastbourne in East Sussex and as far west as Chichester in West Sussex.

Tickets can be bought up to 12 weeks in advance.

GTR gave the example of a return journey for a commuter based in Worthing on the south coast, travelling to London Victoria.

The cheapest Advance peak ticket on that route is £28.10.

The total price for two of those – needed to make a return journey – is £56.20, some 15% cheaper than the £66.20 cost of an Anytime Day Return.

Advance ticket-holders must travel on a specific service, whereas passengers who buy an Anytime Day Return fare can catch any train.

GTR is also trialling a loyalty scheme that enables ticket-buyers to collect points which can be redeemed for rewards such as days out, cinema tickets and coffee.

Lower ticket prices, coupled with Southern’s new loyalty rewards scheme, will encourage people back to rail at times when we have more space on board, and they’ll help with the rising cost of living

Jenny Saunders, Govia Thameslink Railway

The company’s customer services director Jenny Saunders said: “We’ve seen a sea change in travel habits because of the pandemic.

“Mondays and Fridays are unsurprisingly less popular with our customers because they bookend the week, but our trains are quieter as a result so we want more people to use them.

“Lower ticket prices, coupled with Southern’s new loyalty rewards scheme, will encourage people back to rail at times when we have more space on board, and they’ll help with the rising cost of living.

“We really hope both trials will be a success.”

GTR runs Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Great Northern services, carrying more passengers than any other operator in Britain.

The Department for Transport has tight control over the financial decisions of most train operators in England after taking on their costs and revenue risks to maintain services since the start of the pandemic.