Commuters braced for another rail fare hike
Commuters are braced for a three per cent rail fare hike next week, despite a slump in the punctuality of trains.
The rail industry is expected to announce next Wednesday that rail fares will increase by about three per cent, pegged to the Retail Price Index (RPI).
Campaigners have long urged for rail fares to hinge on the lower Consumer Price Index (CPI), which generally grows at a slower rate.
The proposed hike also comes after the new transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said his “first priority” was to tackle the poor punctuality on Britain’s railways.
According to the rail regulator, in the 12 months to the end of March, 13.7 per cent of trains were delayed by five or ten minutes of their timetabled arrival. During the same period the previous year, 12.2 per cent of trains were delayed by five or ten minutes.
The Campaign for Better Transport said fares could increase on average by £131 based on an RPI figure of three per cent.
For example, a 12-month season ticket from Sevenoaks in Kent into London could increase by £108, while the same ticket from Reading into London could go up by £138.
Commuters travelling from Brighton could see the cost of their ticket increase by £148.
Last year the then transport secretary, Chris Grayling, urged the rail industry to use the lower inflation measure to set pay and fare increases.
“I support paying rail staff decent wages for the hard work they do, but I also now believe it is important that pay agreements also use CPI and not RPI in future,” he said at the time.
However, his shadow, Labour’s Andy McDonald, said Grayling had the power to enforce this.
Darren Shirley, chief executive of Campaign for Better Transport, said: “Last year, passengers were told by the then transport secretary that fare rises pegged to RPI were difficult to justify and should be a thing of the past, but there is still no end in sight to these exorbitant increases that will cost commuters dearly from January.
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“The government should commit now to January’s fares rise being linked to CPI and a comprehensive package of reforms to rail fares should follow after the rail review completes in November.”
A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators and Network Rail, said: “We are making trains more frequent and less crowded with over 7,000 new and refurbished like new carriages plus thousands of extra services each week by 2021. While increases to season tickets are regulated by government, money from fares is crucial to enabling these kinds of improvements.”