Campaigners have urged the government to end the annual above-inflation hike in rail fares after it was revealed that the price of many season tickets has soared by 50% in a decade.
On the day when the cost of train tickets across Britain went up by an average of 4.2%, research by Campaign for Better Transport found annual prices had grown by 20% more than average wages since 2003.
This was particularly striking in London commuter routes. The transport pressure group highlighted the cost of a 12-month ticket from Ashford International to London, which has risen from £2,660 in 2003 to £4,780 today. The £2,000 increase was the largest in the 40 London commuter routes surveyed.
An annual ticket between Sevenoaks and London has risen by more than 87% in the same period, from £1,660 to £3,112, while a season ticket between Canterbury and London has increased by more than 78%, to £4,812.
Fare rises in 19 of the routes were greater than 50% over the past ten years, and only one – between London and Stevenage – was below 40% for the period.
CBT chief executive Stephen Joseph said these examples showed the ‘appalling’ impact of successive government’s policies on rail fares.
‘It’s truly shocking that we have deliberately made getting the train to work an extravagance that many struggle to afford,’ he said. ‘The time has come not just to stop the rises but to reduce fares.’
The group has launched a petition calling on ministers to commit to reducing fares and name a date to end the current formula for price rises. This is set at 1% above inflation, measured by the Retail Prices Index value the previous July. However, train operators can increase some fares by more than 1% if there is a matching reduction in others.
Transport minister Norman Baker said the government was ‘determined’ to end above-inflation fare rises.
He said: ‘We are engaged in the biggest rail investment programme since the nineteenth century and it is only right that the passenger, as well as the taxpayer, contributes towards that.
‘In the longer term we are determined to reduce the cost of running the railways so that we can end the era of above-inflation fare rises.’
However, trade unions said rail commuters face ‘another year of fare misery and service cuts’.
Research published last month by the Trades Union Congress’ Action for Rail campaign found fares had risen almost three times faster than wages since the financial crisis in 2008.
TUC general secretary and chair of Action for Rail Frances O'Grady said: ‘I understand the frustration felt by many commuters going back to work today. ‘At a time when real wages are falling and household budgets are being squeezed, rail travellers are being forced to endure yet another year of inflation-busting fare increases.’
