Yes. Customers travelling between 9.30am and noon will probably see fares increase by up to 20%. Those travelling later or at weekends will see a price rise averaging at 3%.

Why are you increasing off-peak fares?

To tackle overcrowding, we are encouraging passengers, with less time-critical journeys, to delay their start time until the new Super Off-Peak fare becomes available.

Can you explain the new structure?

We are creating a new tier of ticket prices for the earliest weekday off-peak services towards London Waterloo, as follows:

Peak – services up until 9.30am
Off-peak – broadly between 10am and midday
Super Off-Peak – services outside the above restrictions

Will this apply to all journeys?

This new price band will not apply to:

Journeys out of London
Travel within the London Zonal Fare area
Travel at weekends or bank holidays
Standard class season tickets

Railcard discounts will apply to both off-peak and Super Off-Peak fares.

When will these new fares apply?

20 May 2007. Posters and leaflets at stations also explain the restrictions on each fare type and to help you choose the best ticket type for your journey.

20% seems really high...

We accept the increase is higher than anything we have implemented before, and we hope that advising the press and passenger watchdog bodies well in advance will help you make an informed choice about the new structure. We continue to offer Railcard discounts against both Cheap Day & Super Off-Peak Day Return tickets and the GroupSave promotion will also be available where 4 people can travel for the price of 2.

What about advance-purchase fares?

We will continue to offer excellent value advance-purchase fares. To book advance tickets you can purchase online, visit your local ticket office or call 0845 6000 650. You can also check the availability of megatrain tickets, where fares start from £1, visit www.megatrain.com.

As with all advance purchase fares these are subject to availability and we recommend checking early to avoid disappointment.

Why don’t South West Trains just increase the fares to London terminals only?

The price rise and introduction of Super Off-Peak fares will apply to journeys from all stations towards London. Without this system, it would be possible to buy combinations of tickets, which would undermine what we are trying to achieve and create confusion.