The Office of Rail and Road says retailers have responded positively to their report in December 2023 regarding additional fees and how transparent they are about them.

The regulator wrote to MyTrainTicket, Omio, Raileasy, RailEurope, Trainhugger, Trainline and Trainpal about the use of drip-pricing during their purchasing processes.

Several retailers have confirmed that they have already made interim improvements and will soon be making further more substantial changes, but two retailers have not yet made any changes but plan to do so later this year.

There has been constructive and positive engagement from the retailers involved about their use of ‘drip pricing’, and the Regulator will monitor their progress towards implementing their proposed changes and will hold them to account.

• MyTrainTicket – Information about fees is displayed more prominently throughout the purchase process and is looking at options to include the booking fee in the total price at the earliest opportunity
• Omio – has not made any changes, but its website will be updated in April to provide information about booking fees.
• Raileasy – has amended its FAQs on fees and will include booking fees in the later this month.
• Rail Europe -booking fees are now included in the upfront price.
• Train Hugger – will launch a new system in April that includes the booking fee in the upfront price.
• Trainline – Fees FAQs has been amended and booking fees for purchases made online are now included in upfront price, with clear price breakdown. Booking fees made by the App. will be included in the upfront price by September
• Trainpal – Fees FAQs have been updated, and the booking fee will be included in the upfront price from later this month.

In a six-week consultation last autumn, The Department for Business looked at proposals in five key areas to improve the quality and accessibility of information during the ticket purchasing process, including hidden fees and drip pricing.

Drip pricing is soon to be banned, and in January, the Department announced that the practice would be banned through new laws set be introduced as part of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill (DMCC), which is currently progressing through Parliament.

Consumers can be disproportionately influenced by the first and most prominent price they see and can be drawn into paying more than they intended or needed to. UK consumer protection law requires retailers to provide people with the information they need to make informed purchase decisions.

Stephanie Tobyn, director of strategy, policy and reform, said: “This work is focused on improving transparency, fairness and clarity for consumers when buying tickets online. Every retailer we engaged with acknowledges the vital role of complete transparency regarding fees right from the outset of the ticket purchasing process.

“It is imperative that retailers now act promptly to implement all proposed changes for the benefit of consumers.”

A Trainline Spokesperson said “While we do not charge a booking fee on the majority of our UK sales, where any fees do apply we have always clearly and transparently displayed these before purchase across all our channels. We have already changed how we highlight fees in both our app and on our website and will continue to iterate our app experience in stages this year to integrate additional information on fees smoothly into the booking experience.”