Rail fares to rise by 8% next year

Train firms allowed to hit commuters with fare increases of 3% on top of the retail price index figure Rail passengers will be hit by an 8% fare increase next year, after the retail prices index remained unchanged. July’s RPI figure stayed at 5%, the Office for National Statistics announced. Under the government’s austerity drive rail prices will rise by the RPI figure plus 3% until 2014, meaning sharp price increases for passengers. The 8% rise can be used by rail companies as an average increase, meaning some journeys could face even larger increases. Rail minister Theresa Villiers told BBC Breakfast on Tuesday that longer trains would be provided in the future and that if costs could be reduced then above-inflation fees would end. Passengers were unimpressed by the impending increase in ticket prices. “This could drive people off the railways,” said Sharmaine Mackin, 25, who travelled from Bracknell, in Berkshire, to London Waterloo on Tuesday morning. “An 8% rise is not good news. I think the fares are already too high.” Her sentiments were echoed by other rail users. One woman, a secretary in her 40s who commutes between London and Farnborough in Hampshire, described the 8% rise as “disgusting”. She added: “I’m already paying more than £2,000 a year for my season ticket. That’s a lot of money.” A 60-year-old commuter from Farnham in Surrey, who uses South West Trains’ services, said a rise to his season ticket would make it “absurdly expensive”. “We already pay far more than rail travellers do in Europe,” he said. “My journey has improved over the years but this rise is not justified.” A 28-year-old woman engineer from Gravesend in Kent said: “Trains are so overcrowded that I can’t see how they can put up the fares.” Villiers told BBC Breakfast she could guarantee that longer trains would be provided in future, as part of a national upgrade that includes 2,700 new rail carriages. “We’re guaranteeing that there will be longer trains, we’re guaranteeing that into our major cities there’s going to be more space and more seats for passengers,” she said. The rail minister added that if costs could come down, then above-inflation fare increases would end. Passengers face the average rise of 3% above inflation for the next three years. The transport secretary, Philip Hammond, said: “We are now embarked on one of the biggest programmes of rail investment for 100 years, delivering more than 2,700 new rail carriages, a £900m programme to electrify more lines and the vital Crossrail and Thameslink projects in London. “Due to the scale of the deficit, these investments would simply have not been possible without the difficult decision we have made to increase rail fares. I know this decision has not been popular, but I hope passengers will appreciate the improvements it allows us to make.” He went on: “However, it’s absolutely clear that in the longer term the only solution is to bring the overall cost of the railways down. We have already begun work on this with the [Sir Roy] McNulty Review [of rail costs] and we are determined to succeed. “Better value for money on the railway will deliver a better deal for taxpayers and farepayers alike and will allow us to put the era of above inflation rises in regulated fares behind us.” On Monday Villiers said: “The scale of the deficit means that the government has had to take some very difficult decisions on future rail fares, but the long-term solution is to get the cost of running the railways down.” While the RPI remained at the same figure, the wider consumer prices index rate of inflation increased to 4.4% in July, from 4.2% in June, triggering a letter of explanation from the Bank of England governor, Sir Mervyn King, to the chancellor, George Osborne. Rail transport Transport Rail travel London Consumer affairs Theresa Villiers Adam Gabbatt guardian.co.uk

Posted by on August 16, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.