The
discounts


available
for
travel
on
most
railcards
are
set
to
be
trimmed
on
15
September,
according
to
reports.

The
effective
rises
in
fares
will
be
small,
because
the
present
discounts
of
34
per
cent
are
said
to
be
coming
down
to
33.4
per
cent,
which
is
just
over
the
‘third
off’
which
is
normally
advertised.

The
result
would
be
that
a
fare
of
£100
would
be
reduced
to
£66.60
instead
of
£66
exactly.

The
main
exception
would
be
the
16-17
Railcard,
which
would
continue
to
offer
a
50
per
cent
discount.

Although
the
rise
amounts
to
60p
for
every
£100,
transport
campaigners
are
protesting.

Railcard,
the
organisation
run
by
the
Rail
Delivery
Group,
said:
‘The
cost
of
a
Railcard
hasn’t
increased
for
over
10
years
and
will
continue
to
provide
customers
with
a
third
off
their
rail
fare
for
just
£30
a
year
–
a
cost
that
can
be
made
back
in
just
one
or
two
journeys.’

If
the
reduction
in
discounts
does
go
ahead,
it
will
not
benefit
train
operators.
The
Treasury
or
the
devolved
governments
already
collect
all
the
income
from
rail
fares,
while
paying
the
industry’s
costs
and
a
management
fee
to
those
English
operators
which
have
not
yet
been
nationalised
by
transferring
them
from
a
private
sector
company
to
DOHL
–
the
Department
for
Transport’s
operator
of
last
resort.

The
government’s
Passenger
Railway
Services
(Public
Ownership)
Bill,
which
would
allow
the
remaining
National
Rail
Contracts
to
be
terminated
at
the
next
break
point
–
usually
the
‘core
expiry
date’
–
is
due
to
receive
its
Third
Reading
in
the
House
of
Commons
tomorrow
and
be
in
force
by
the
end
of
the
year.