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Rail fares up, again
Hello Supporter
The annual rail fare rise has become an unwelcome start to each new year as millions of us return to work after the Christmas break. But today's average fare rise of 3.1 per cent (3.2 per cent for season tickets and off-peak returns) will have left many of us wondering what on earth we are paying for after a record year for delays, cancellations and overcrowding.
That’s why we called for a fares freeze back in the summer and we weren’t the only ones. The Transport Select Committee also concluded that a fares freeze this January would have gone some way to repairing the damage caused by May’s chaotic timetable introduction.
But the Government pressed ahead with today’s Retail Price Index (RPI) based increase, despite RPI being obsolete and no longer an official measure of inflation. We’ve been calling for the Government to use the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to set fare increases instead of RPI since 2013, and last year the Transport Secretary indicated that future fare rises would move to CPI, however the Government has yet to make the change, leaving passengers paying more. Had it brought the change in this year, regulated fares - things like season tickets and standard returns - would have risen by 2.5 per cent today, instead of 3.2 per cent.
Today's rise is yet more evidence of why the review of the railways currently underway must prioritise passengers' needs and recommend a fundamental reform of the fares system and how fares are set. It's about time the Government recognised the most important part of the railway is its passengers.
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