Hacienda blacklist ruling

RAIL tickets in the UK could soon be priced like airline seats, based on a demand­based system now being tried out.

Mark Harper, Transport secretary, announced recently that the cost of tickets on some long­distance trains on the East Coast line run by the London North Eastern Railway (LNER) will vary according to availability.

The state­run train company would eventually phase out return tickets across its network, dependent on a pilot programme determining whether to introduce this nationally, Harper said.

The current trial follows a successful scheme selling only single­leg tickets on some longer intercity routes including London­Edinburgh.