Uber-style pricing planned for LNER trains – Ticket prices to go up or down with demand

Rail fares will fluctuate based on demand under a trial to be announced by Transport Secretary Mark Harper.

The cost of travel on some London North Eastern Railway (LNER) services will be more or less expensive depending on how many seats have been filled.

It has echoes of Uber-style surge pricing, where fares on the taxi app go up when demand is greatest.

An updated version of this story from YorkMix is here

This is an attempt to better manage capacity while also raising revenue, the Department for Transport said.

Mr Harper will also confirm plans to expand single leg pricing across the entire LNER network, which runs between London King’s Cross, York and Edinburgh on the East Coast Main Line.

That means a single fare will always be half the cost of a return.

Many one-way fares will be almost halved as a result of the reform, according to the DfT.

LNER, a publicly owned operator, has trialled single-leg pricing on some of its routes since 2020.

The DfT said it will consider rolling out the system across all of Britain’s rail network depending on the success of the extended pilot scheme.

Delivering the annual George Bradshaw address to rail industry leaders in central London on tonight (Tuesday), Mr Harper will provide an update on the future of Great British Railways.

He is reviving the idea of the new public sector body to oversee Britain’s railways – and will reveal how it will work alongside the private sector as “a guiding mind to co-ordinate the entire network”.

York named as one of six cities shortlisted to host the Great British Railways HQ.

But then the idea was – like so many trains – delayed.

Mr Harper is expected to say tonight: “Today’s announcement is the latest example of this Government taking bold decisions and getting on with the job.

“Growing the economy is rightly one of the Prime Minister’s top five priorities, and the measures I announce today will unleash more competition, innovation and growth in an important sector of our economy.”