Grand Central’s single fares already proving reform can benefit customers

Following yesterday’s announcement that return journey tickets may be removed under new rail fare reform, Grand Central is assuring customers this doesn’t mean a hike in the cost of their journeys.  

Due to the fantastic value for money fare opportunities open access operators like Grand Central can offer, the company’s single fares already cost around half the price of a return journey.

Nick Clarke, Head of Commercial for Grand Central, says: “Since 2007, we’ve successfully demonstrated a best practice example of how single fare journey tickets can prove the most cost-effective option for our customers. When purchasing two Grand Central single journeys, passengers not only have more choice when considering their return journey fare, but they’re not pushed into paying extra for flexible fares which may not be best suited to their needs.

“We’re delighted that the industry is considering adopting the single-leg pricing approach which we have been using at Grand Central for over 15 years, in line with our commitment to providing straight-forward value to our customers. This is something we know our customers appreciate, as proven by our industry-leading passenger numbers post-COVID.”  

Flexible Off Peak singles from York to London with Grand Central are available for £58, compared to the industry Super Off Peak single at £123.20; an Off Peak return fare is £112 with Grand Central, with the industry Super Off Peak return price at £124.20. However, Grand Central also offers train-specific Advance Purchase single fares from York to London from just £18.

Grand Central is currently offering discounted sale fares from all of its stations to London this week only, including York to London from only £12 per person each way, only bookable direct from www.grandcentralrail.com

ENDS

Notes to Editors

The full speech can be found here: Rail Fare Reform Speech 07.02.2023

George Bradshaw address 2023 The Transport Secretary affirms his commitment to the rail sector and outlines plans to modernise the industry. www.gov.uk

Grand Central Railway Company Limited is an established train operator which provides direct rail connections from towns and cities in Yorkshire and the North East England with London.
 

Customer satisfaction levels are consistently high and the rail company was named Britain’s best value rail operator for the tenth time in the Spring 2020 National Rail Passenger Survey. In 2020 the same survey saw Grand Central rated overall best operator for customer satisfaction

Grand Central operates West Riding services between Bradford Interchange, Low Moor, Halifax, Brighouse, Mirfield, Wakefield Kirkgate, Pontefract Monkhill, Doncaster and London King’s Cross. The rail operator also operates North East services between Sunderland, Hartlepool, Eaglescliffe, Northallerton, Thirsk, York and London King’s Cross.  

Grand Central is part of the Arriva group. Arriva is one of the leading providers of passenger transport in Europe, employing over 53,000 people and delivering 2 billion passenger journeys a year across 14 European countries. We are part of Deutsche Bahn (DB), one of the world’s leading passenger and logistics companies, and are responsible for DB's regional passenger transport services outside Germany.