Title: First Great Western MD reveals how he plans to get the beleaguered train operator back on track | The Independent | The Independent
Headings: First Great Western MD reveals how he plans to get the beleaguered train operator back on track
First Great Western MD reveals how he plans to get the beleaguered train operator back on track
Mark Hopwood says his mission is 'to present a different face for the business'
Best and worst of Britain’s railway

Content: The complexity of the fare system is shown by the options open to a “walk-up” passenger who buys a ticket from Paddington to Swindon just before departure. The fare for a standard open return, offering complete flexibility, is £124. An off-peak return is £45, but a “split ticket” – one from Paddington to Reading, and a separate one to Swindon – shaves a few pounds off that price. Mr Hopwood says that station ticket staff need not advise passengers of such dodges: “ What we should do is sell you the cheapest ticket for the through journey you’re making, so if you’re travelling from London to Bristol, we should sell you a ticket from London to Bristol. That’s what the industry guidelines are – it’s not something that we’ve invented.” David Cameron visiting First Great Western's Laira rail depot in Plymouth, last year (Getty)
(Getty Images)
Some passengers are keen on split tickets to try to avoid fares so high that they resemble on-the-spot fines. The 16-minute, 24-mile journey between Didcot Parkway and Swindon costs peak-time travellers £22 one way. “If you were to start from scratch, you wouldn’t create a fare structure like the one we’ve got,” concedes Mr Hopwood. “ But as a result of decisions that have been taken for very good reasons by politicians, it is very difficult to move away from the current fare structure.”