Increasing numbers of drivers are turning their backs on the anarchy of the roads and choosing the sanity of train travel.

The number of passenger journeys made by train last year reached 1.32 billion, a 6.9% rise compared with 2009, according to the Association of Train Operating Companies.

This should be a reason to celebrate but the Government seems determined to choke off that growth by allowing rail fares to rise, year after year, by more than the rate of inflation.

The existing high level of rail fares is always cited as the main reason why some people do not travel by train.

ATOC insists there are still rail fare bargains to be had. But it is not so forthcoming about some rises in the London area in January of 42% on some day return fares, and 13% rises on some season tickets. And no one can seriously dispute that Britain’s rail fares are the highest in Europe.

Thirty years ago, Labour Greater London Council leader Ken Livingstone and Dave Wetzel launched their Fares Fair policy.

But the problem of high fares is nationwide. In 1993 the Tory Government doubled the cost of running the railway by privatising it and subsequently rail users have been forced to pay increasing fares.

Some annual season tickets now cost more than £5,000 but when challenged about increasing fares, Michael Roberts, chief executive of ATOC, said the rises were part of Government policy to make rail passengers pay a greater share of the cost than taxpayers.

There is no prospect of the Government changing its policy. It seems determined to continue increasing rail fares by 3% more than the rate of inflation for at least the next four years. Hardly a pro-rail policy. Railfuture warned in a press release that it will choke off demand for rail and put people back in their cars.

There is nothing similar for road or plane users. The sensible fuel duty escalator has been scrapped and there seems no prospect of an aviation fuel tax being introduced. It is time rail passengers were given a fair deal.
It is unreasonable to expect rail passengers to pay such big increases year after year even if, as ATOC argues, it will lead to “more trains and better services”. It will certainly help train company profits.

The nationalised railway was cheaper to run even though free market propagandists argue that private enterprise is more cost effective. There is no sign of that from the private rail companies.

Eight years ago, Railfuture commissioned a report which showed that a national railcard giving discounted rail fares would pay for itself by generating new business. The private rail companies refused to consider it. So most rail passengers continue to pay top-whack fares because it is difficult for them to predict in advance when they need or want to travel. Advanced purchase tickets are taken up by only 20% of passengers.

By contrast there is still lots of money that could be squeezed out of car drivers. Some car drivers are so determined to park illegally that they paid £914,000 in fines in just one London road – Clapham Park Road in Lambeth.
Also in London, the Blackwall Tunnel was closed 1,200 times in less than a year because “ignorant motorists” failed to heed height restrictions or ran out of fuel in the tunnel.

Simply enforcing road traffic laws would bring in an immense amount of revenue but instead the Government is considering helping motorists to pay lower prices for their fuel. Why?

CBT campaign

Fare track