Photo - Alan Mak is lobbying for fairer pricing structures for Havant rail users
Havant MP Alan Mak has lobbied the Rail Minister Claire Perry MP to introduce ‘flexible season tickets’ for part-time commuters in a House of Commons debate on Thursday 10 March 2016. Mr Mak said that rail passengers who travel into work three or four times a week at most should not always have to pay the cost of full season tickets.
At present, any Havant commuter who travels for work by train more than three days a week will find it cheaper to buy a season ticket – valid seven days a week – than pay for individual journeys.
It is an issue that Mr Mak, a passenger on South West Trains himself, felt needed addressing as he spoke to MPs in the House of Commons today. The Havant MP pointed to the large numbers of constituents who commute to Portsmouth, London and around the Solent region daily that often fall foul of this unfair ticketing structure.
Mak said: “There significant numbers of Havant residents who commute to Portsmouth, London and around the Solent region three or four days a week, but have to buy a full season ticket.”
The Havant MP added: “People’s work and travel patterns have changed over the year and are now increasingly flexible. Our rail fares should be flexible and adaptable too to reflect more home working. It seems unfair to charge people to travel to work seven days a week when, in some cases, they are actually making journeys for less than half of that time.”
Mike Hewitson, Head of Policy at the independent watchdog Transport Focus, said: “We have a complex fares system and passengers tell us that they want more choice when it comes to buying tickets.”
Rail Minister Clare Perry MP said the Government would uphold its manifesto commitment to encourage flexible ticketing, and this would be done as rail franchises came up for tender.
Perry said, “On timing, we can either impose the roll-out on the industry all at once, or we can do it with the franchising competition. My preference is always to do it while franchising, because a competed price is always a better price. We are relying on the franchising process to drive innovation wherever possible”
The Havant MP said bidders for the London to Portsmouth line franchise, currently held by South West Trains, should proposed changes to ticketing structures as part of their bids. The franchise comes up for renewal in 2017. South West Trains are re-bidding against a new bid from Stagecoach.
Havant MP Mak is a keen supporter of promoting better train links and services for his constituents. He was heavily involved in a recent consultation between residents and South West Trains over the future of the operator. Mak campaigned for ‘quicker, longer and better trains’ for the large number of commuting constituents in Havant.