Grayling: Blame the rail unions for fare increases
Minister hits out... but he’s criticised for going to Qatar
TRANSPORT Secretary Chris Grayling last night accused militant rail unions of blocking plans to curb future bumper increases to train fares.
Mr Grayling was accused by Labour of ‘running scared’ yesterday after he pressed ahead with an official trip to Qatar rather than face the wrath of commuters angered by this year’s fare rises averaging 3.4 per cent.
Some commuters are now paying up to £2,500 more for a season ticket to work than they were at the beginning of the decade, despite repeated delays, disruption and engineering work.
But Mr Grayling last night rounded on Labour and the unions, warning that their demands for higher pay for rail staff were responsible for driving up fares. Mr Grayling, who commutes by train from his Surrey constituency, said he wanted to ditch the use of the discredited Retail Prices Index (RPI) as the basis for future fare rises.
But he said switching to the lower Consumer Prices Index (CPI) would require the unions to accept lower pay rises. ‘I want us to move from RPI to CPI,’ he said. ‘I am a commuter too – I pay the same fares as everyone else and I absolutely understand the pressure caused by the cost of living. I cannot promise no rail fare increases in future but I would like to move to the lower measure of inflation.
‘But to achieve that you have to move the whole industry on to RPI, and the biggest barrier to that is the unions who will not accept pay awards linked to CPI.
‘The hypocrisy of the Labour Party and the unions on this is staggering. The same people who are out campaigning against fare increases today refuse to countenance CPI as the basis for their pay awards. They want to have their cake and eat it, but someone has to pay for it.’
Mr Grayling faced a backlash yesterday after Downing Street confirmed he was pressing ahead with a visit to Qatar and Turkey on the day millions were hit by the new fare hikes. Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald said his decision ‘smacks of a man running scared’. He added: ‘Passengers and taxpayers deserve better than a failing Transport Secretary who refuses to defend his track record.’ Mr McDonald’s attempt to exploit the issue on the airwaves were dashed when he ended up stuck on a broken- down train while travelling with Virgin Trains East Coast from Stevenage to Leeds.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable said: ‘Rail passengers are shivering on platforms, angered by the biggest fare increase in years, while Chris Grayling is off globetrotting.
‘It’s very difficult to see what useful function he can perform in Qatar and Turkey that our excellent trade officials could not.’
Mick Cash, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, whose members are planning a campaign of strikes during January, said: ‘Chris Grayling knew that the fares story would be top of the news agenda today but, instead of being available to defend his Government’s great rail rip- off, he booked himself a trip to the Qatari sunshine.’
But Mr Grayling said his presence in the UK yesterday would have made ‘no difference’ to the increase in rail fares, which was first announced in August.
He said he had decided instead to lobby the Qatari government on behalf of British firms bidding for ‘major contracts’ related to the expansion of the wealthy Gulf state’s airport. The Government’s lack of a Commons majority means ministers often have to carry out overseas trips when Parliament is in recess, as it is this week. Government sources said Mr Grayling had given ‘numerous’ interviews on rail fares in recent months. The Prime Minister’s spokesman said the use of RPI was ‘consistent... across the rail industry’ but was being kept ‘under review’.
Paul Plummer, of the Rail Delivery Group, said passengers ‘should be proud’ of rail firms and claimed the rise in fares was justified by investment in improved services.