Mayor ‘disappointed’ at another price hike for bus and train fares
MAYOR OF West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin said she was “disappointed” West Yorkshire residents would see “another increase in their cost of living” after a price hike for MCard travel.
MCard tickets which include rail travel change every year in line with increases to regulated rail fares, which the Department for Transport announced in December 2021 would be 3.8 per cent for 202223.
Fares for all MCards and tickets that can be used on more than one operator are set by the West Yorkshire Ticketing Company Limited (WYTCL), of which the Combined Authority is a member.
The WYTCL Board agreed not to increase the cost of its bus only MCards or for weekly and monthly tickets for under 25s. The price changes came into force this week.
Ms Brabin said: “I’m disappointed that people in West Yorkshire are going to see another increase in their cost of living.
“This was an opportunity for the Department for Transport to limit the increase or cancel it altogether, but because they went through with it the rail operators – who now work under Government contracts – have had to increase regulated fares and local operator schemes, of which MCard is one. If the increase in rail fares brought specific funds into West Yorkshire to improve our rail services I’d understand, but the money raised from West Yorkshire’s passengers will also go to fund improvements elsewhere.
“As we’ve seen from the
Integrated Rail Plan and the decision to exclude Yorkshire from the high-speed rail network, we need more decisions such as these taken at a more local level, so that our rail fares go to improve our own rail services and infrastructure.”