Graham Forster & the “Great British Rail Sale”
Or is it?
In this Guardian article, Department for Transport (DFT) claims to be supporting families with the cost of living, but Labour claims that:
Only about 1% of all journeys taken are likely to benefit from the promotion, which is targeted at intercity travel at quiet times, meaning even fewer commuters will see any reduction in fares.
A government-backed “Great British Rail sale” to tempt travellers back to trains will slash the cost of a million journeys next month, but unions have dismissed it as a gimmick.
The Department for Transport said the offer was “further supporting families with the cost of living” at a time of high inflation.
While campaigners and the industry welcomed the move as a first step, Labour said it would offer little relief. Only about 1% of all journeys taken are likely to benefit from the promotion, which is targeted at intercity travel at quiet times, meaning even fewer commuters will see any reduction in fares.
Nonetheless, the offer, billed as a “first-of-its-kind Great British Rail sale”, has been enthusiastically endorsed by the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, in a bizarre promotional video.
Shapps, a former salesman who once ran a web marketing business under the pseudonym Michael Green, employs his skills to full effect at various points in the video donning a hoodie, sunglasses, rucksack and handling a rubber crab to advertise travel to locations from Cornwall to Edinburgh. He ends by declaring: “It’s time to get real,” before boarding an LNER train.
The fares, which include a single journey from London to Edinburgh for £22, Manchester to Newcastle for £10.30, and Birmingham to Bristol Temple Meads for £12.60, will be launched on Tuesday on a Great British Rail sale site.
Originally appeared as article in The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/apr/19/government-plan-to-tempt-uk-back-to-trains-dismissed-as-gimmick