►►Demonstration against high rail fares in London in October even before the latest rises were announced◀◀
Railfuture started 2013 with a campaign against high rail fares, which went up yet again on 2 January 2013.
We complained that fare rises are being imposed without perceptible improvement in services.
SouthEastern is putting up the price of a Bromley to Victoria off-peak fare from £9.70 to £11.40 (17%).
The Association of Train Operating Companies claimed the overall average rise was 3.9%, with some fares going up by less but Railfuture has found that some fares rose by 11% or 12%.
In London, Mayor Boris Johnson has also increased fares by 4.2% on the Tube and the Overground.
Railfuture media spokesman Bruce Williamson issued an “enough is enough” press release on fares and pointed out the injustice that petrol tax is frozen while the cost of driving a car remains static.
He said. “How does this help persuade people out of their cars and ease congestion? Where is the green policy?
“The train operating companies may say they need the money for improvements, but how much fare income is actually spent on improvements? Fares income is not ring-fenced for anything.
“If you look at how much money is being paid back to the Government in the form of corporation tax, fuel tax (which airlines don’t have to pay), industrial buildings tax and so forth, you have to ask whether raising fares above inflation is really necessary.
“Our fares are the highest in Europe – do we have the best rail service in Europe? Of course, there are some discounted advance tickets to be had, but people want to just turn up and go at a reasonable price when it suits them.
“Discounting advance tickets is a way of managing passengers to suit the needs of the railway. I think we should be managing the railway to suit the needs of the passengers.”
The petrol tax freeze was announced in the Chancellor’s autumn statement, which reinforced the Government’s anti-green stance by earmarking £1 billion for road building.
The Chancellor ruled that rail fares should go up in 2013 and 2014 by 1% more than the retail price index, rather than the planned 3% more than RPI!
“It should be RPI minus 1%, not RPI plus 1%,” said Julian Huppert, the Liberal Democrat MP for Cambridge. “Rail travel is cleaner, greener, more efficient and quicker than other forms of transport.”
In Scotland, Rail Minister Keith Brown announced that off-peak fares will be restricted to 1% less than inflation, but only after 2016 when the new ScotRail franchise starts.
Rail passengers have endured eight years of above-inflation rises in regulated fares. Unregulated fares have gone up even more.
Average train fares have increased by more than 26% since the start of the recession, almost three times faster than wages, research by the rail unions shows.
Transport Salaried Staffs Association general secretary, Manuel Cortes, said: “The Government seems determined to make a reality of Philip Hammond’s statement that rail travel is now a rich man’s toy.”
Stephen Joseph, executive director of the Campaign for Better Transport, said: “The UK has some of the highest fares in Europe and there is a limit to how far these above-inflation fare rises can continue without harming the economy.”
Chiltern Railways which has been widely respected by rail users and campaigners is however blotting its record by increasing by 10% the price of an off-peak return from London Marylebone to Birmingham.
On First Capital Connect, anytime day singles from London to Mill Hill Broadway go up by 9%, to Elstree & Borehamwood, Hendon and Cricklewood by 8% and to West Hampstead and Kentish Town by 7%, Bedford Commuters Association discovered. Day returns went up by 7 to 8%.
Railfuture press releases