Another rise in fares for rail users in new year
Train fares will increase by an average of 2.7 per cent in the new year, rail firms have announced, with some longdistance commuters seeing the annual bill rise by more than £100.
An annual season ticket from Wakefield to Leeds is set to increase from 1,076 to around 1,098 under the plans.
The higher fares will come into effect from January 2 and follow years of successive increases.
Fewer than half of passengers are satisfied with the value for money of train tickets, according to the latest survey by watchdog Transport Focus.
Network Rail data shows only 65 per cent of trains arrived at their scheduled station stops within one minute of the timetable in the past 12 months.
Paul Plummer, chief of industry body the Rail Delivery Group, said: “We understand no-one wants to pay more to travel, which is why train companies have for the third year in a row held the average fare increases below inflation while still investing to improve journeys.
“Passengers will benefit from 1,000 extra, improved train carriages and over 1,000 extra weekly services in 2020.”
But Transport Focus chief executive Anthony Smith said: “We speak to hundreds of thousands of passengers each year and we know that less than half feel they get value for money.
“After a year of patchy performance, passengers just want a consistent day-to-day service they can rely on and a better chance of getting a seat.
“Transport Focus has long called for a fares system that is simple to use, easy to understand and is flexible enough to cater to how people work and travel today.As fares rise passengers must make their voice heard and call on operators to deliver a better service.”
Passengers can check fare rises for individual journeys on train ticket websites from today.
The increase in around 45 per cent of fares, including season tickets, is regulated by government.
Around 45 per cent of fare increases, such as season tickets and off-peak returns, are regulated by the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments. The rest are decided by train companies.
Figures from the Office of Rail and Road show that between January 1995 around the time the network was privatised - and January 2019, average fares increased in real terms by 21 per cent. The Rail Delivery Group says 98p of every pound spent on train fares is invested back into the railway.
David Sidebottom, director of independent watchdog Transport Focus, said: “After a year of more stable - but still patchy - rail performance many rail passengers will be mystified that rail fares should be going up at all, let alone by 2.8 per cent next January.
“The National Rail Passenger Survey shows that less than one third of rail commuters are satisfied with the value for money of their ticket.
“Transport Focus believes it’s time for a fairer, clearer fares formula based on calculations that use the Consumer Prices Index, rather than the discredited Retail Price Index.”
Stephen Waring, chair of Halifax and District Rail Action Group, said:“This autumn Calder Valley Line passengers seem to have endured the worst service any of us can remember.
“The railway collectively has failed to deliver franchise promises such as trains from our line to Manchester Airport and increased frequency. These should have started this month but instead the new timetable is bringing cuts in service for Sowerby Bridge and Mytholmroyd. In the face of all this any fare rise is a kick in the teeth.”