Season Tickets and Recreational Travel in Greater Manchester
'A Fare Deal For You' over the last century (Page 1)
Contents
- Introduction
- Diminishing Returns
- On Board for Increased Patronage
- Ticketing Timeline
- Tickets Past and Present
Introduction
Ever since railway companies introduced season tickets in the start of the 20th century, the average bus and rail user has been the proud owner of a strip of card which allows discounts over single or return fares. Purchased on a weekly, monthly or annual basis, they were first known as 'contracts'.
With improved technology, it is possible to purchase a similar range of tickets from the booking office with mobile ticket machines on or off the bus/rail station premises. In the last decade, season tickets bought on the bus or train have gained popularity. This article takes a look at travel in Greater Manchester for pleasure and for profit.
New Boots and Contracts
Without the railways, London wouldn't have had its Oystercards, nor would we have had the season ticket as we know it today.
As the railway companies consolidated, their focus in urban areas switched more towards the carriage of passengers as well as freight. With passengers being attracted to the new suburbs, they travelled further from their place of work. In London, it was the Underground system and the Metropolitan Railway. In Manchester, it was the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, who introduced electric trains to Bury via Prestwich and Radcliffe in 1906. At the southern end of Manchester, it was Altrincham which benefited from electrification, using an overhead system from 1938.
Both the lines from Altrincham and Bury made places like Sale and Prestwich desirable places to live, away from the city yet 30 minutes away by clean, fast electric trains.
For regular travel, 'contracts' became a popular option, over paying separate single or return fares. This committed the passenger to travel over a given route within, for example, a weekly period. Even now, rail season tickets remain a popular option amongst rail users.
Cheap Away Days
After cheap fares were made available at the latter part of the 19th century, the railway companies also kick-started a boom in excursion traffic. As well as cheap excursion tickets and special trains for the Wakes weeks, rover tickets started to appear.
In 1906, Ashton Corporation was the first concern in Greater Manchester to introduce through-ticketing and coordination with Oldham Corporation. Their pioneering approach led to the launch of a rover ticket in 1922. This allowed a complete round journey from Ashton via Mossley and Oldham by tram. The journey wasn't exactly round, as the map suggested walking from Roaches or Haddens towards Saddleworth, where tickets would be accepted on Oldham Corporation trams. The single operator ticket was born.
With the railways nationalised on New Year's Day 1948, it became possible to explore Britain further by rail. By the 1950s, rover tickets known as 'Runabouts' were introduced, offering passengers unlimited travel within a given area. The idea was to boost off-peak patronage, but there was one serious competitor: the car.
Other than their Runabout tickets, cheaper off-peak rail travel was also available through special excursion trains to popular seaside resorts. This practice was common till the late 1960s, with some continuing well into the early 1990s.
In 1990, this changed again when British Rail launched APEX fares, allowing cheaper travel over longer journeys. With privatisation, the APEX fare came in a variety of brands from Virgin Value to Super Advance with options for minimum booking time from 3 to 14 days in advance of departure. This was changed by National Rail in 2008 where such fares are now referred to as Advance Purchase tickets.
Diminishing Returns
With the exception of North Western Road Car Company, day saver tickets were absent from the Greater Manchester bus scene. With increasing car ownership, some operators abolished cheap workmans' ticket, which allowed cheaper rate travel before the morning peak periods. At a time when bus operators needed a fillup, this probably exacerbated declining patronage.
Another factor were job losses among Greater Manchester's biggest employers. For example, Metropolitan Vickers once employed 10,000 at its Trafford Park work before closure in 1976. British Railways' Rail Modernisation Plan also saw the loss of sweated labour due to the closure of steam sheds in Gorton and Patricroft, as well as the infamous Beeching plan. 1969 also saw the closure of Bradford colliery, the last coal mine in East Manchester. This also reduced demands for works' contracts.
Bus only season tickets returned to the fore in 1974. Greater Manchester Transport introduced the Bus and Rail Season Ticket, which was a forerunner of today's System One Buscard Extra. This allowed travel over a given section within Greater Manchester by bus and train.
Following a fuel crisis and a 25%+ inflation rate, 1975 saw Greater Manchester Transport increasing its fare twice to cover rising maintenance costs and the abolition of separate fare stages for one man operated and crewed buses. This resulted in a 15% drop in passenger numbers, to the point trade unions showed concern. The result of this by the end of 1975 was a weekly bus and rail season ticket known as the SaverSeven.
The SaverSeven was an instant success, leading to some drivers switching over to buses. SaverSeven tickets were available on a 4 zone basis, with a fifth zone being launched by 1983, to accommodate services within New Mills and Hayfield. To cater for this, SaverSales outlets opened in bus stations throughout Greater Manchester, often alongside separate information offices. Both Altrincham and Whitefield bus stations, GMT's first purpose built examples had such facilities from the start.
By December 1979, with patronage still falling, came another ticket. Whereas the SaverSeven permit catered for regular users, and required a photocard, Greater Manchester Transport introduced a ticket for passengers who fell between heavy user and very casual user. The result was the Clippercard, which offered 10 single journeys for the price of 9. Initially slated for release in 1976, the Almex self cancelling devices created opposition with the unions, resulting in a three year delay and the proliferation of faulty Clippercard machines.
With higher unemployment presenting a challenge to Greater Manchester Transport, there was a market for more off-peak tickets. In 1970, SELNEC was first with the Cheapway fare, which allowed reduced fares between 1000 - 1200 hours and 1400 - 1600 hours on weekdays. This was stopped by GMT in 1975. On the other side of the Pennines, West Yorkshire PTE introduced off-peak fares in 1980, and South Yorkshire PTE, throughout 1975 and 1986 have heavily subsidised fares based on the mainland European model. In 1981, GMT had a fares freeze on some routes, though this had ceased a year later.
