Rail fares for season ticket holders
have risen by as much as 50% in
the past decade making travelling
to work by train an extravagance
that growing numbers of people
struggle to afford, according to
campaigners.
Commuters returning to work
after the Christmas break face
average season tickets increases of
4.3% and an overall rise on ticket
prices of 3.9%. But the Campaign
for Better Transport says this is
just the latest in a series of fare
increases that is having an
"appalling" impact on commuters.
Chief executive Stephen Joseph
said: "It's truly shocking that we
have deliberately made getting
the train to work an extravagance
that many struggle to afford. The
time has come not just to stop the
rises but to reduce fares."
CBT said its research showed that
in the past decade London
commuters have seen average
season ticket costs increase by
£1,300; fares grow 20% faster than
wages; and average costs in real
terms increasing by £360.
In the last 10 years rail fares had
gone up significantly in all parts of
England but that there were big
differences between routes over
that period. Annual fares from
Sevenoaks in Kent to London have
increased by nearly 90%, from
£1,660 to £3,112; and from today,
commuters travelling between
Worcester and Birmingham Moor
Street will pay £1,240 for a season
ticket compared with £816 in 2003
– an increase of £424 or 52%.
The TUC said average train fares
have risen nearly three times
faster than average wages since
the beginning of the recession in
2008. It said this "huge disparity"
between fare and wage increases
meant that a family of four
travelling to London on an
anytime ticket from Swansea,
Plymouth, Leeds, Manchester or
Newcastle in 2013 would have to
pay more than the average weekly
wage of £481.
TUC general secretary Frances
O'Grady said: "At a time when
real wages are falling and
household budgets are being
squeezed, rail travellers are being
forced to endure yet another year
of inflation-busting fare increases.
"As well as having to shell out
record amounts of money for
their tickets, passengers also face
the prospect of travelling on trains
with fewer staff and having less
access to ticket offices. They are
being asked to pay much more for
less."
Michael Roberts, chief executive
of the Association of Train
Operating Companies, blamed the
government. "Ministers want
passengers to pay a larger share
of railway running costs to reduce
the contribution from taxpayers
while sustaining investment in
better stations, new trains and
faster services."
Transport minister Norman Baker
said: "We are engaged in the
biggest rail investment
programme since the 19th century
and it is only right that the
passenger, as well as the taxpayer,
contributes towards that. In the
longer term we are determined to
reduce the cost of running the
railways so we can end the era of
above inflation fare rises."
Labour said it would impose a
"strict" cap on future rail fare
rises, accusing the prime minister
David Cameron of misleading
commuters. The government had
intended to allow train companies
to raise the average price of
regulated fares – which include
season tickets – by retail prices
inflation plus 3% this and next
January.
In October Cameron announced it
would instead be limited to RPI
plus 1% – a 4.2% rise. However,
Labour said the government had
undermined its pledge by
reinstating flexibility, allowing
firms to raise non-regulated fares.
Shadow transport secretary Maria
Eagle said: "David Cameron misled
commuters when he promised to
cap fare rises at 1% above
inflation. Many commuters have
faced a nasty New Year shock as
they discover fares have gone up
by as much as 9.2% … Labour
would strictly enforce the fare cap
on every route and restore the
ban on train companies imposing
higher increases."
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