Rail fare hike could cost commuters a third of wage
RAIL commuters face spending up to a third of their takehome salary on a season ticket after another punishing fares hike was confirmed yesterday.
The price of regulated fares will rise by up to 3.2 per cent in January – equivalent to hundreds of pounds more on many annual passes – in line with the Retail Price Index measure of inflation.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn described the latest increase as an ‘insult to anyone who has suffered from the chaos on Britain’s railways’.
The price hike follows the botched introduction of a new timetable in May, which caused mayhem for hundreds of thousands of commuters in the south and north of England.
It is likely to make a further dent in workers’ pay packets, with official figures on Tuesday revealing average wages including bonuses are growing by just 2.4 per cent a year.
Analysis published yesterday by consumer group Transport Focus revealed the spiralling cost of travel for millions of rail commuters. A 3.2 per cent hike will push up the price of a season ticket on the busy Swindon to London Paddington route from £8,740 to £9,020 in January next year.
The average salary in the capital is around £37,200, but after taxes this is whittled down to £28,700.
By next year, commuters on this line will have seen a £1,260 rise in the cost of a season ticket in six years.
Rail fares have increased at twice the speed of wages since 2010, according to analysis by the RMT union. Many long-distance commuters will see the annual cost of getting to work increase by more than £100 next year.
A 3.2 per cent increase in season tickets will see annual passes from Brighton to London cost £ 4,846 ( up £ 150), Gloucester to Birmingham reach £4,239 (up £131) and Liverpool to Manchester setting workers back £3,253 (up £101).
Those travelling on the Northern service from Manchester to Preston – one of the worst affected by the timetable chaos – will also have to pay almost £100 more. Anthony Smith, chief executive of Transport Focus, said: ‘After a torrid summer, passengers hit by the timetable crisis will be amazed that the talk is about a fares increase.
‘A fares freeze would benefit all passengers, begin the process of rebuilding trust and start to bring passengers back to a railway they can rely on.’
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: ‘This is an insult to hard-pressed commuters. After a year of delays, cancellations and overcrowded trains, the last thing they deserve is another wage-busting fare hike.’
But Transport Secretary Chris Grayling rejected calls for a fares freeze. He said the Government had opted instead to refund commuters worst affected by the timetable chaos up to a month’s worth of travel.
Mr Grayling argued this was a much more generous offer.
The latest increase was based on the RPI measure of inflation for July, published yesterday. The rail industry said £98 of every £100 collected from fares is invested back in the railways.
Paul Plummer, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents rail companies and Network Rail said: ‘Fares are underpinning a once-in-ageneration investment plan to improve the railway and politicians effectively determine that season ticket prices should change in line with other dayto-day costs to help fund this.’