Ticketing and Concessionary Travel on Public Transport - United ...

Transport Committee: Evidence Ev 169
Settlement Plan managed by ATOC). Therefore, it’s development <strong>and</strong> expansion has not involved
considerable capital investment, or protracted development lead times which using new ticketing technology
would have inevitably required.
17. Now that PLUSBUS is embedded into the National Rail fares <strong>and</strong> ticketing system, conversion of
the ticket aspect of the product to any future Smartcard application should be possible.
18. What Does PLUSBUS Cost?
PLUSBUS tickets are designed to be great value <strong>and</strong> can save customers money (compared with the cost
of buying multiple separate tickets for several journeys). A PLUSBUS ticket costs a specific headline price
for each complete day’s unlimited bus travel, in addition to the cost of the train fare. At present, 70% of
PLUSBUS day tickets cost £2, or less. In virtually all cases the PLUSBUS fare is less than the equivalent
cost of buying a similar unlimited bus travel day or season ticket from the bus operator(s) themselves. This
added discount is considered an important customer benefit of PLUSBUS, in order to entice rail users to
try the product (<strong>and</strong> hopefully switch from using another less sustainable mode of transport to/from the
train station).
19. Prices start from as little as £1 day. Below is a list of destinations currently available with PLUSBUS
for just £1 a day: Aberystwyth, Bangor, Bletchley, Bury St Edmunds, Colwyn Bay, Dovercourt, Exeter,
Flint, Great Yarmouth, Harwich, Ipswich, Kings Lynn, Ll<strong>and</strong>udno, Lowestoft, Milton Keynes, Norwich,
Prestatyn, Rhyl, Ruabon, Stanford-le-Hope, Witham, Wivenhoe, Wolverton, <strong>and</strong> Wrexham.
20. PLUSBUS is currently available to over 50 towns <strong>and</strong> cities across Britain, for less than £2 a day,
including, for example: Birmingham £1.50, Bishops Stortford £1.60, Blackburn & Darwen £1.50, Burnley
£1.50, Chester £1.50, Coventry £1.50, Durham £1.50, Elstree & Borehamwood £1.60, Harpenden £1.60,
Luton £1.80, Manchester £1.70, Potters Bar £1.60, Rochdale £1.70, Sunderl<strong>and</strong> £1.90, Wolverhampton
£1.50.
21. The following towns oVer PLUSBUS for just £2 a day: Aberdeen, Basingstoke, Blackpool, Bracknell,
Brighton & Hove, Carlisle, Chesterfield, Chorley, Colchester, Darlington, Derby, Droitwich Spa,
Edinburgh, Falkirk, Glasgow, Harrogate, Hereford, Inverness, Kidderminster, Lancaster, Leicester,
Lincoln, Maidenhead, Newport, Newton Abbott, Northampton, Oxford, Paignton, Penzance, Preston,
Reading, Southampton, Southend, Stirling, Swindon, Telford, Torquay, Truro, Weymouth, Windsor.
22. A small number of PLUSBUS tickets cost between £2.10 <strong>and</strong> £3.50 a day, for example: Bristol £3.00,
Leeds £2.50, Watford £2.50. The highest ticket price is £5.50 which oVers unlimited bus travel on
participating operators around the whole of Pembrokeshire (a higher cost reflecting the extensive area of
validity).
23. Railcard Savings
PLUSBUS is the only nation-wide integrated ticketing product for train <strong>and</strong> bus travel that oVers all
Railcard holders (Disabled Persons, Family, Network Card, Senior, Young Persons) st<strong>and</strong>ard rail discounts
on their bus travel. Railcard holders save one-third oV the price of a day, or period return PLUSBUS ticket.
Children (aged 5 to 15 years) pay half-fare for a PLUSBUS day or period return ticket <strong>and</strong> in some cases
can also obtain half-fare on PLUSBUS season ticket prices.
24. Where to Buy
PLUSBUS can be bought at:
— all staVed train station ticket oYces in Britain;
— by telephone through selected train company telesales teams (Arriva Trains Wales, First Great
Western, First ScotRail, GNER <strong>and</strong> ONE Railway);
— appointed travel agents of National Rail; <strong>and</strong>
— self-service ticket machines (at selected stations only).
A new generation of self-service ticket machine is gradually being installed across the rail network,
which are able to be programmed to sell PLUSBUS tickets.
For bus travel at the start of the journey, customers are advised to buy their PLUSBUS ticket in advance
from either a station, or by telephone (through the TOC Telesales units).
25. We are also working with National Rail <strong>and</strong> the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC)
to oVer online sales of PLUSBUS during the later part of 2007.