Rail commuters could be left worse off if pricing "loophole" closes

The “anomaly,” as it was dubbed by First Great Western, involves the fact that a return train ticket from Hungerford to Reading is pricier than one to Winnersh - despite the fact that the latter is eight miles further away.
First Great Western charge an adult £10.90 to travel the 54-mile round trip from Hungerford to Reading and back.
But the standard return fare for Hungerford to Winnersh - a 70-mile round trip - is £9.70.
The reduction of £1.20 is despite the fact that the journey entails an additional 16 miles.
Canny commuters realised that, because the latter service stops at Reading, they could save £1.20 per day.
Passenger Simon Evans, who commutes to Reading from Hungerford each day, only discovered the discrepancy recently.
He said: "I was staggered to learn that for that past four years I could have been paying less. Assuming this pricing ploy has been in place throughout that time, I could have paid about £1,000 less. Scale that up for the number of others who use this route and you could be talking millions.”
Unfortunately for Mr Evans and his fellow commuters, First Great Western will soon be closing the loophole.
Spokesman for First Great Western, James Davis, said: “It is an anomaly in our pricing system. This will be reviewed in January.”
Meanwhile Newbury MP Richard Benyon will meet Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin to discuss commuters’ fears over rail links following electrification in 2016.
The meeting, scheduled for mid-November, follows a letter written by town mayor Martin Crane to the transport minister expressing “deep concern” over threats to the rail service between Hungerford and London.
And Devizes MP Claire Perry has offered to meet members of the Bedwyn Trains Passenger Group (BTPG) and other concerned local passengers to dicuss the issue.
The public meeting is scheduled for 5.30pm tomorrow (Friday) at Bedwyn station on Platform One (westbound).
Spokesman for BTPG, Steve Smith, said: “Claire is keen to meet with commuters and rail users to hear how the department for Transport’s plan to put us on a Newbury shuttle service will affect us.”