The evidence suggests that open access competition has resulted in cheaper fares and grown the overall market for rail travel, says Andy Comfort

 
Hull Trains will celebrate its 25th birthday later this year

 
At 0614 on the morning of Sunday May 25, the first train to be nationalised by the Labour government left London Waterloo for Shepperton, attracting national headlines. Labour is promising to bring two more train operators (c2c, which runs trains from London to Southend, and Greater Anglia, which covers East Anglia) under public control this year.

The government says it plans to “return the railways to the service of passengers and reform our broken railways, ending 30 years of fragmentation and delivers on our manifesto commitment to bring passenger services back into public control and put passengers firmly at the heart of the railways”.

But what will it really mean for passengers? It’s unlikely we will see much difference for some time. Large chunks of the UK rail network have already been brought under government control by the previous Conservative regime – including LNER on the East Coast Main Line between London and Scotland, Southeastern, which links London and Kent, and the vast Northern network.

For people travelling on those trains, you could argue there’s been little change. Industrial disputes over rest day working were resolved in the north of England, but the timetables, the trains and the services remain basically the same. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it will surely take some time to achieve this government’s stated aims.

When the Conservatives under John Major privatised the railways in the 1990s, the idea was to promote competition and offer a better service with cheaper fares. However, the geography of the network has led to few opportunities for competition – you can choose whether to go from London to Birmingham on the faster route out of Euston or the often-cheaper alternative from Marylebone, but for most journeys, there’s only one operator you can use on the route.

This is where open access train operators stepped in, to provide choice on certain routes and to run trains to under-served destinations. The first of these, Hull Trains, will celebrate its 25th birthday later this year. Before Hull Trains started in 2000, there was only one train a day each way between Hull and London. Now there are eight return services each weekday.

Unlike the main train operators such as Northern or Avanti West Coast, open access companies such Hull Trains and Lumo, which runs Edinburgh to London services to complement those run by LNER, make their money solely through ticket sales and they don’t receive financial support from the government. They are also independently regulated by the Office of Rail and Road to ensure they don’t impact other major operators on a route.

It has been claimed that open access operators are taking passengers and money away from the contracted train operators
such as LNER, but two separate studies contradict this and highlight the positive effects of open access operations for both customers and the rail industry.

The first study, The Impact of Open Access Operators on Industry Revenue and Journeys, compiled by specialist consultants Winder Phillips, assesses the success of open access operations on the increased number of journeys and the amount of additional revenue they have generated.

The study focuses specifically on Lumo and Hull Trains, but also considers the positive effects of the Grand Central service to Sunderland, using publicly available industry data. Faster rail journey times, direct journey opportunities, increased service frequency and fare competition are all mentioned as key benefits.

The report found that Lumo has helped to generate more than six million new rail journeys, encouraging people to switch from air travel to rail. On the surface, flying might seem the faster option but many flights are slower than they were 30 or 40 years ago. Back in 1985, the 0710 British Airways SuperShuttle from Edinburgh was due to arrive at London Heathrow at 0820 – a time of an hour and 10 minutes, which took into account taxiing and circling. The current BA timetable allows one hour 35 minutes for a typical Edinburgh to Heathrow flight, a reflection of increased air traffic control delays. Flights from the Scottish capital to London City Airport now take one hour 40 minutes. By the time you factor in travel to and from the airport at either end and allow time for check-in and security, Lumo’s best Edinburgh city centre to London city centre weekday time of four hours 20 minutes is very competitive.

Passengers on the East Coast Main Line now have a choice of which train company to use

For Hull Trains, revenue on journeys from London to Selby, Howden, Brough and Hull increased by nearly 300% in its first 10 years, generating approximately £30m in revenue for the railway. More recently, Hull Trains has seen passenger journey growth of 55% since 2018/19, 35% more than any other UK rail operator.

The second study by Arup called Open Access Operations Paying Their Way, details the contributions made to the UK rail sector through the payment of industry charges. Open access operators do not pay the same as those contracts managed by the Department for Transport, such as LNER, but have a different charging regime in place. Data shows that from October 2025, Lumo will pay around 10% more than LNER per train mile and around 35% more than Avanti West Coast. The report also mentions how open access operators are connecting communities, increasing job opportunities and reducing carbon emissions.

Passengers on the East Coast Main Line now have a choice of which train company to use between Edinburgh and London – the government-operated LNER or Lumo. But what about fares? Well, both companies can offer their own discounts and deals, but some fares on the government-run LNER are set by the Department for Transport. To put it to the test, I tried to book tickets on LNER, Hull Trains and Lumo.

Let’s take an example of two adults heading to London for the weekend from Newcastle, maybe wanting to see a West End show or have a day out in the capital. At the time of writing, two return tickets travelling south on Saturday August 9 and returning the next day vary from just over £160 if you specify which trains you will catch, to £400 for the government-regulated fare for any train with any operator. The cheapest LNER tickets are £209 for two returns leaving at 0828 or 0900, or £199.20 on earlier trains. However, the cheapest tickets are offered by Lumo with a fixed fare of £163.60 for two adult returns, travelling on specified trains.

What about travelling with children? Let’s say a family of two adults and two children want a midweek overnight break in the capital and they’re travelling from Hull. If they have a Family and Friends railcard and they travel down on Tuesday August 19 and return the next day, they are looking at a total cost ranging from £125.70 to £525.60, the latter being the fully flexible fare valid on any train with any operator.

Clearly, it pays to book ahead and the cheaper tickets are usually the ones where you specify which trains you want to catch. On that basis, the cheapest option is £125.70 return for two adults and two children, catching the 0824 Hull Trains service on the Tuesday and returning from London King’s Cross on Hull Trains on the 2030 departure the next day.

So, in the two examples here, the open access operators Lumo and Hull Trains have offered cheaper fares if you specify your trains and book in advance. It’s worth planning ahead to see if you can get a cheaper ticket and then you’ll have more to spend at your destination!

 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Andy Comfort is a former BBC Local Radio senior journalist/presenter and now works as a freelance rail journalist.

 
This story appears inside the latest issue of Passenger Transport.

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