Regular long distance commuters into North and South London can now potentially save between £60 to £125 a week, thanks to a new price cap introduced by Govia Thameslink Railway.
The Company which owns Great Northern, Southern and Thameslink Trains has announced that there will be weekly fare caps on train prices for customers who use the pay-as-you-go keyGo feature on their Key Smartcard for their journeys.
This news will come as a welcome relief to customers, who will receive the added benefit of free train journeys once the weekly price cap has been surpassed.
The weekly price caps are set to the cheapest amount available, and are based on a customer's walk-up fare across a seven-day period, which includes Peak and Off Peak Travel.
This will not only save commuters money, it will also save the individual time and effort of working out the cheapest fares as the Key Smartcard will automatically do it for you, and will adjust the price accordingly to ensure customers get the cheapest fares.
Should any train get delayed, the system notifies you of the correct compensation claims to make, to ensure customers still receive the best deals.
Thameslink
| Journey | Standard Class Anytime Day Return Ticket | Standard Class weekly Season Ticket | Saving |
| Bedford – London Thameslink | £53.00 | £147.00 | £65.00 |
| Bedford – East Croydon | £60.90 | £151.70 | £91.90 |
| Radlett – Bedford | £36.30 | £96.30 | £48.90 |
| Elstree & Borehamwood – Bedford | £41.20 | £101.80 | £63.00 |
| Bedford – Brighton | £81.40 | £194.60 | £131.00 |
| Luton – London Thameslink | £36.30 | £131.00 | £14.20 |
| Harpenden – London Thameslink | £31.20 | £119.80 | £5.00 |
| Elstree & Borehamwood – London Thameslink | £17.70 | £60.10 | £10.70 |
| Mill Hill Broadway – London Thameslink | £11.30 | £41.40 | £3.80 |
| Hendon – London Thameslink | £9.40 | £30.90 | £6.70 |
| West Hampstead – London Thameslink | £8.00 | £23.40 | £8.60 |
Govia's price capping is in a move to encourage people to return to London for work and business in an attempt to fill up the large amount of vacant office space that is currently sitting in the capital since the pandemic.
This also offers the chance for new or smaller business to upgrade and move to bigger premises in London which will give them the opportunity to expand and to make themselves stand out and recognisable on the global stage, while at the same time contributing to the UK economy.
A quick overview of the savings shows that regular travellers from Brighton to London Victoria can save over £120 per week, while commuters travelling from Bedford into any of London's Zone 1 stations can save up to £65 per week.
Southern
| Journey | Standard Class Anytime Day Return Ticket | Standard Class weekly Season Ticket | Saving |
| Brighton – London Victoria | £65.00 | £135.80 | £124.20 |
| Brighton – London Thameslink | £52.60 | £124.40 | £86.00 |
| Eastbourne – London Terminals | £78.50 | £149.00 | £165.00 |
| Eastbourne – Brighton | £23.00 | £69.00 | £23.00 |
| Haywards Heath – Clapham Junction | £47.60 | £114.80 | £75.60 |
| Horsham – London Terminals | £58.10 | £127.00 | £105.40 |
| Three Bridges – London Terminals | £33.80 | £101.00 | £34.20 |
| Gatwick – London Terminals | £32.80 | £98.70 | £32.50 |
| Redhill – London Thameslink | £25.70 | £89.10 | £13.70 |
| East Croydon – London Terminals | £14.60 | £55.30 | £3.10 |
The keyGo feature is available through the Key Smartcard which is GTRs tap-in, tap-out pay as you go ticket service, over 30,000 commuters currently use this feature and they will all be automatically added into the new weekly price cap for fares.
It is hoped more commuters will join the scheme now the weekly price caps have been introduced.
Those that wish to sign up will need to register for a GTR Key Smart Card. You can sign up on either Great Northern, Southern or Thameslink websites.
Once you have received your card and it's been activated, you can go to your online account and sign up to the keyGo service in just a few clicks. From here, a minimum of 4 same-route journeys between two destinations will need to be made per week before commuters are eligible for any savings.
Those that commute 5 days a week between the same two stations will get free travel on Fridays, and any extra journeys made between the same two stations on Saturdays and Sundays will also cost nothing as the price cap has already been surpassed.
This offer is not available for pre-loaded season ticket holders, but they can sign up once their current season ticket expires.
Great Northern
| Journey | Standard Class Anytime Day Return Ticket | Standard Class weekly Season Ticket | Saving |
| Foxton – London Terminals | £51.70 | £150.10 | £56.70 |
| Royston – London Terminals | £44.10 | £150.10 | £26.30 |
| St Neots – London Terminals | £51.70 | £158.70 | £48.10 |
| Biggleswade – London Terminals | £40.10 | £141.70 | £18.70 |
| Hitchin – London Terminals | £32.20 | £123.70 | £5.10 |
| Potters Bar – London Terminals | £18.30 | £67.60 | £5.60 |
“Our simple tap-in, tap-out, pay-as-you-go keyGo system already guarantees our customers the cheapest walk-up fare of the day with none of the hassle of buying a ticket.
The additional promise to never charge more than a weekly season ticket for travel between the same two stations means thousands of commuters returning to the office will never miss out on weekly season ticket deals, saving hundreds of pounds a week or month.
“And with automatically generated Delay Repay compensation claims, getting the best deal when travelling by train has never been simpler.
“With keyGo fares – applicable on our Key Smartcard – no matter how frequently you travel between the same two stations each week, you'll never pay more than a weekly season ticket.”
Mark Pavlides, Interim Chief Customer Officer at Govia Thameslink Railway
