Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with London North Eastern Railway on the trial of the Simpler Fares pilot scheme.

The Department supported LNER to introduce its Simpler Fares trial and officials regularly meet with LNER to discuss progress. During the trial, the majority of passengers will find fixed or semi flexible fares to be the same or cheaper than the old super off-peak fare, and there will be more fixed fares available than before. LNER estimate as of 6th February that 55% of semi flexible tickets sold were cheaper than the old super off peak ticket.

The trial will be evaluated to understand its impact on passengers, and gather passenger feedback. The evaluation will be published in due course.