A PUBLIC consultation aimed at making ticketing more user-friendly and fairer is due to be launched by Britain’s rail companies.

The consultation will start next month and run until September, leading to a report containing proposals for governments to consider.

The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents rail companies, claims that in the current system offers more than 55 million different fares – in some casees buying multiple tickets covering a journey instead of one return can regularly work out cheaper by up to 50 per cent.

Passengers hail the reform as “overdue”, after the industry has admitted they are not always offered the cheapest fares due to “long-standing anomalies”, such as split ticketing, which allows passengers cheaper options by buying several single tickets instead of just one for the same journey.

Another “anomaly” is charging peak-time fares when half a trip is on an off-peak service, making it difficult for rail companies to guarantee the right fare.

The industry has pledged average fares will not rise as a result of any reform, which, according to the RDG, could include integrated tickets covering other modes of transport such as buses and trams and more flexible tickets for part-time workers.

The RDG believes by introducing a more sophisticated computer-based system of ticketing rail passengers could automatically be offered the lowest fare.

Rules governing ticket sales and how fares are calculated date back to 1995 and passengers claim they have not kept pace with technology or how people work and travel today.

The rise of smartphones has dramtically changed how people buy their tickets and an increase in people working part-time and on a freelance basis make traditional season tickets no longer an economical option for many passengers.

Rail, Maritime and Transport Union general secretary Mick Cash claimed no-one trusted private rail firms to do the right thing by passengers.

A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: “We want passengers to always be able to get the best possible deal on their ticket and we welcome the industry’s commitment to review fares.”

Campaigners have welcomed the attempt to improve ticketing, warning that it will need government support to make it happen.

So far news of the proposed consultation have been met with support from rail-users who want a rail fare system they can trust, offers better value for money, is more user friendly and more understandable.