Rail fares soar

Rail fares are set to soar by an average of 3.5 per cent in January of next year, pricing out millions of UK workers who are struggling on stagnant wages.

According to the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT), commuters are now spending at least a fifth of their income on season tickets. The CBT estimates that an annual season ticket for a commuter between Liverpool and Manchester will skyrocket by ÂŁ101 next year, while a season ticket between Brighton and London will go up by ÂŁ151. The annual season fare between Cambridge and London will rise by ÂŁ159.

The Tory government’s failed rail privatisation programme has seen fare increases rise steeply above inflation: over the course of the current parliament, rail fares have gone up a jaw-dropping 25 per cent. Over the same time period, average wages peter along at 6.9 per cent.

Current fare regulations peg fares to July’s retail price index (RPI) of 2.5 per cent and are capped at RPI+1 per cent. However, the government allows train operators the freedom to raise fares by an additional 2.5 per cent on certain routes, known as the “flex rule.”

Conveniently, the measure of inflation the Conservative-led government uses to peg rail fares is RPI, instead of the consumer price index (CPI), which stands at a much lower 1.6 per cent.

In response to soaring rail fares, Unite joined protestors in 40 stations across the country on Tuesday (August 18) as part of the TUC’s Action for Rail campaign.

Unite national officer Tony Murphy said, “Twenty-one years of privatised rail has failed Britain’s travellers at every level. Soaring rail fares and overcrowding has been the price of privatisation for commuters. But while the public suffers, taxpayer subsidies have helped many private companies cream very big profits. Until the railways are brought back into public ownership, private companies will continue to milk the paying public for all it’s worth.”