Train passengers in demo fury at tickets ‘disgrace’
Protests at 3.2% increase in fares
CAMPAIGNERS furious at aboveinflation train fare rises staged protests at railway stations across the country yesterday.
The cost of many season tickets has soared more than £100, with fares up as much as 3.2% – above the 2.6% increase in the average wage last year.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn branded the hikes a “disgrace”, but Transport Secretary Chris Grayling blamed the rise on rail workers.
Mr Corbyn joined the protesters at
King’s Cross
Station in North London yesterday, as activists waved banners reading, “Failing Grayling” and “Great train robbery”. The Labour chief said the rail network should not just be about “the profits of the few”. At Manchester Piccadilly station, union officials and local Labour councillors handed out leaflets saying, “Cut fares not staff”. Cllr Adele Douglas said unreliable trains were “destroying people’s working lives”.
But Mr Grayling yesterday insisted: “The fare increases are higher than they should be because unions demand – with threats of strikes – higher pay rises than anybody else.” Shadow Transport Secretary, Andy McDonald, responded: “This is a pathetic attempt to shift the blame for Tory fares policies on to staff.
“It’s telling that Grayling doesn’t suggest slashing the salaries of train company bosses or dividends paid to shareholders of private companies.”
Mick Cash, of union RMT, said: “On Chris Grayling’s watch, our railways have lurched from crisis to crisis. He should go.”
Research published by Labour today shows that overcrowding on trains is at its highest level ever.
The 10 most crammed peak routes are 187% over capacity on average.
And cancellations or significantly late services were at their highest level in 17 years in 2018. Robert Nisbet, of the train firms’ Rail Delivery Group, said the rises will help to “deliver a much better service”.
The Tories are trying to shift the blame on to staff ANDY MCDONALD ON CHRIS GRAYLING CLAIMS