The rail industry is preparing for a cull in the number of fares and season tickets offered to commuters as it launches an appeal for root-and-branch reform of the “outdated” regulations underpinning the £9.7bn-a-year fares system.

Britain’s rail companies are beginning a public consultation into the rules underpinning the country’s ticketing options, which have ballooned in complexity to offer passengers about 55m different fares.

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The Rail Delivery Group (RDG), the trade body representing the firms that run Britain’s railways, said it was launching the UK-wide consultation alongside the watchdog Transport Focus because “decades of well-intentioned but outdated regulations have led to a range of fare options that have not kept pace with technology or how people work and travel today”.

The pair are pledging to use their findings to “update fares regulation and make things easier for customers” but have ruled out recommendations that will lead to a reduction or increase in average fares.

The industry will wait for the results of the consultation, which will run from June to September, before committing itself to any specific proposals.

However, it has already cited its irritation with certain restrictions, including “inflexible seven-day, monthly or annual season tickets”, which must be offered to passengers under regulations that date back to the mid-1990s.

Rail firms claim these restrictions make it impractical to offer more flexible “smart ticketing”, such as those implemented on the London Underground, where computer systems can calculate the most cost-effective ticket for different customers. They argue that the style of season tickets has become outdated because of more flexible working patterns.

However, train tickets that would suit modern work patterns – such as a three-day-a-week season ticket – are too difficult to offer under current rules, train operators say.

A spokesman for the RDG indicated that some fares might have to be scrapped in order to make way for new ones. “It doesn’t make sense to offer a three-or-four-day season ticket. There are certain fares that train companies have to sell. Unless we get rid of them, [new fares] keep adding to the total number.”

According to research commissioned by the industry from the consulting group KPMG, only 34% of rail customers are “very confident” they bought the best-value ticket for their last journey and only 29% were “very satisfied” with the experience of buying their ticket. The industry says reforming the fares systems has the potential to attract more people to travel by train.

Anthony Smith, the chief executive of Transport Focus, said: “Rail passengers want a simpler, more understandable and modern fares system which matches the way we now travel. Opening up the debate and looking at the pros and cons of various reform options is welcome. Transport Focus will make sure the passenger voice is heard in these debates.”

Jane Gratton, the head of business environment at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “Businesses rely heavily on the rail network and will welcome this long-overdue review of the fares and ticketing system. Increasingly confusing, frustrating and unfair, the current system needs to be brought in line with the more nimble and flexible way in which firms now operate. It’s the obvious next step to ensure people gain maximum benefit from the ongoing investment in our railways.”

The regulations underpinning rail fares have remained unchanged from the mid-1990s, when the 1995 ticketing settlement agreement spelled out how fares should be set and sold.

As it pre-dates widespread use of internet and smartphone technologies, the regulations assume that all customers will buy their ticket by visiting a ticket office and set out in detail how customers must be able to buy a ticket from each of the 2,500 stations in Britain to every other station in the country.

A final report from the rail industry on the fare system is expected to be published in the autumn.