Rail firm to increase its fares for third time in nine months
NORTHERN Rail is increasing some fares by nearly 10 per cent - for the third time in nine months.
Adding 50p to some tickets from May 21, the price hike applies to unregulated fares, or those over which the government has no control.
It will hit the majority of off-peak day return fares for journeys made within Greater Manchester.
It’s the third such increase in less than a year, with similar changes in both September and January.
It means, for example, that an off-peak day return from Bramhall to Manchester will increase from £5.40 to £5.90.
A return from Gatley to Manchester will rise from £4.50 to £5.
Mark Hunter, Lib Dem Cheadle parliamentary candidate, said: “Making it even more expensive to travel on our trains is wrong when everyone is feeling the pinch in their pocket and crazy when we desperately need to cut the number of cars on our roads and reduce pollution.”
Mick Cash, general secretary of rail union RMT described the latest fares as a ‘rip off ’.
He added: “It’s just another example of industry costs being shifted to the passenger.
“Northern should be forced to pull back from their twin strategy of axing guards and raising fares in the dash to fatten up the profits for the German state operator Arriva.
“This is a scandalous situation and will no doubt be a major issue throughout the General Election campaign.”
Operator Arriva took over the Northern Rail franchise in April 2016.
Government changes over the last decade have put the onus more on passengers paying for the service, while easing the burden on taxpayers.
The operator has also been hit by a number of strikes in recent weeks concerning a dispute regarding the role of guards on trains.
A spokesman for Northern Rail said there would be no changes to anytime day single, anytime day returns or weekly season tickets.
He said that they had reduced the cost of the cheapest tickets between Manchester and Lancaster and had also introduced new 15-minute advance tickets with reduced rates.