Welcome Easy Fares!

We have now launched our Easy Fares API. The Easy Fares API provides relevant and useful data on all fares that are not seasons or carnets, ranging from valid walk-up fares through to fares which are valid with a smartcard. (Seasons, carnets and rovers/rangers are already covered by our existing APIs.) Before I dive into … Continue reading “Welcome Easy Fares!”

Introducing our APIs!

Just keeping people up-to date with what we are currently working on at BR Fares. I wanted to write about our APIs, which we launched several months ago. See link below: https://www.brfares.com/api/ Why we chose to sell APIs? We chose to start selling our APIs because we saw a need to provide better quality and … Continue reading “Introducing our APIs!”

Family Areas on Trains – a good idea?

I would relish the opportunity to travel more often with my son and daughter on trains! Both love an adventure, and watching the world pass by out of the train window fills them with a sense of awe. If trains contained consistently-designated areas for parents travelling with very young children — Family-friendly Spaces — we … Continue reading “Family Areas on Trains – a good idea?”

The best part of my holiday – on the train!

One of my fondest memories was a trip to Devon on a GWR train. I was expecting to be sitting, or standing in an overcrowded train, at best there might be a trolley serving tea and coffee. I had assumed the journey would be unremarkable at best, stressful at worst and simply a way of … Continue reading “The best part of my holiday – on the train!”

Bristol Area Pay-as-you-go Scheme – the first serious attempt at fares reform?

While seemingly everyone has been busily debating the amount of discount that the long-hyped (but yet to appear) new flexible carnet fares might provide, something much more radical is about to happen in the Bristol area from 16 May. Great Western Railway (GWR)’s direct franchise award with the Department for Transport (DfT) from 29 March … Continue reading “Bristol Area Pay-as-you-go Scheme – the first serious attempt at fares reform?”

Low-cost on the Rails

Most of us are familiar with low-cost airlines. In recent decades, these new cheaper flights, also known as ‘no frills’ services revolutionised the way we travel internationally in Europe, bringing air travel within reach of most people for the first time. The question I seek to ask here is: are there equivalents available on the … Continue reading “Low-cost on the Rails”

Oysterless Contactless…

On Thursday 29 August the zonal pay-as-you-go (PAYG) fares system for London was extended to cover Brookmans Park station in Hertfordshire. This is particularly notable because Brookmans Park is the first (and so far, only) station within the system at which Oyster cards are not valid. I’ve taken the opportunity to make some changes to … Continue reading “Oysterless Contactless…”

Finding the Best Deal with BR Fares

Welcome back to the BR Fares blog! As you probably know if you have ever tried to book a train ticket, some amount of prior knowledge can be required to choose the best value ticket for your journey. For some people, whichever ticket is the cheapest is the one they are looking for, but this … Continue reading “Finding the Best Deal with BR Fares”

On-train Catering – could it be better advertised?

Availability and Prominence of information on train catering Does it affect your journey decisions? On-train catering on scheduled train services in Great Britain can be superb, really a reason to make the effort to choose to travel on a particular train operator (TOC) or train. For example, a while back I needed to travel from … Continue reading “On-train Catering – could it be better advertised?”