Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department considers (a) increased passenger numbers, (b) reduced average fares and (c) increased revenue to be measures of success when evaluating rail fares reform.

Passenger demand, fares levels and revenues are some of the factors considered amongst the success criteria of rail fares reform, as we seek to balance benefits and potential impacts on passengers and taxpayers. Other factors include passenger experience, crowding and simplification of fares to support passenger understanding.

The independent evaluation into the London North Eastern Railway (LNER) fares trial commissioned by the Department for Transport and conducted by SYSTRA does not provide a definitive estimate of the proportion of passengers paying more or less for an equivalent journey. It demonstrates that some passengers paid less and some paid more, and that average revenue per journey increased.

More information can be found here - LNER single leg pricing and Simpler Fares trial evaluation - GOV.UK.