Rail fares rise: Data on rail revenue in Great Britain ~ Technology Update

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Rail fares rise: Data on rail revenue in Great Britain

3:20 AM latest techno report No comments

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With rail fares set to rise by up to 8% next year, and some season ticket holders facing a possible 13% increase, we look at the available revenue data on rail travel in Britain

Rail fares are set to rise by up to 8% next year, with some commuters facing a 13% increase on 2012 season tickets, after the retail price index remained stable at 5% for July.

While the Association of Train Operating Companies argues that "fares need to rise above inflation for the next three years to help pay for more trains, better stations and faster services", consumer watchdog Passenger Focus calls the current system of setting rail fares "deeply unfair".

So how much revenue are the train operators making on passenger transport? Data on ticket prices for specific services is notoriously hard to find. There is an ongoing debate over whether to make the LENNON database, the rail industry's central ticketing system, an open data source. Currently, the Office of Rail Regulation makes summary datasets available in its National Rail Trends Yearbook.

According to the ORR Yearbook, rail fares have risen by an average of 6% across Great Britain over the past two years. While the average price increase is higher in London and the South East (6.7%), some regional fares have risen by 9.2%.

We've also collated the information available on revenue by ticket type, sector and passenger kilometres, as well as the subsidies by train operator and the financial support the government has given the rail industry since 1985.

Click the link below to view the data, and see what you can do with it.