The case for ‘premium economy’ train carriages

A few years ago I wrote here about the unexpected symbiosis between economy passengers and business travellers on commercial flights. Largely unnoticed by people in either cabin, those buying each class of air ticket are unintentionally helping out their fellow travellers at the other end of the plane. Precisely because the two classes of passenger have wildly different priorities (the people at the front are sensitive to time, productivity and comfort; the people at the back are more sensitive to price), it benefits both groups to share the same aircraft.

Why? Well, put simply, leisure passengers do not much care whether a flight to Miami operates daily, weekly or even fortnightly, since they are most likely going away for one or two weeks. By contrast business folk will reject an airline unless they can fly out and back on the precise day they choose. So, without leisure travellers, the airline cannot afford to operate flights with the frequency the business passenger demands. But without the high return on premium cabins, the airline cannot offer the prices economy passengers want.

It’s why pubs traditionally had a public bar and a saloon bar. It is a more efficient arrangement than having a boozer and a gastropub operating as separate entities. One business can hence serve two markets: a public bar for those wanting to start a fight and a saloon bar for those treating the lady wife to a gin and bitter lemon.

Likewise, first-class and standard-class rail travellers share the same trains but have very different reasons for travelling by train. Standard class needs to be pleasantly affordable for people who may have no alternative. First-class rail needs opulence to entice people out of their Jag.

It’s called price discrimination, and a lot of people hate it.