To entice commuters back to the office at either end of the working week, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) is trialling cheaper Southern Rail Advance peak tickets on Mondays and Fridays.
Ever since much of the nation learned to work from home during lockdown, travel patterns have changed with most people now heading into the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
On Monday mornings, around 40,000 fewer people (210,000 in total) catch rush-hour trains operated by GTR compared with the middle three days of Tuesday (250,000), Wednesday (230,000) and Thursday (240,000).
On Friday mornings, which was always a quieter day, the number falls even further, to around 90,000 fewer (160,000 commuters) than the middle three days.
In total, morning peak commuter figures sit at around 70% of pre-pandemic levels.
Trial 1: New peak-time Advance tickets
To encourage more people to commute on Mondays and Fridays, GTR has launched a trial of Advance tickets on Southern peak trains (morning and evening), for a limited number of journeys in both directions between East Croydon, Clapham Junction and London Victoria, and stations south from Three Bridges, as far east as Eastbourne and as far west as Chichester.
These Advance peak tickets will show up in Southern’s journey planner when people go to book up to 12 weeks in advance, and save up to 15% compared to the price of a standard peak fare Anytime Day Return ticket. They can be bought up to the day before travel but it’s first-come, first served.
Advance tickets are normally available off-peak only.
Trial 2: Loyalty scheme
The rail firm is also trialling a new loyalty scheme for its passengers which is running through to spring. Customers can accumulate points with every pound spent, working towards rewards such as days out for families, self-education courses, mindfulness app subscriptions and money towards cinema tickets, coffee and dining out.
GTR 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.”
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