Rail rise is blasted as ‘slap in the face’
THE Metro Mayor for the Liverpool city region has blasted the decision to increase rail fares on Northern and TransPennine services as a “slap in the face” for passengers in the north.
Last week, Steve Rotheram and his Greater Manchester counterpart, Andy Burnham, wrote to Transport Secretary Chris Grayling to demand a freeze on rail fares to ensure that passengers in the area were not hit by proposed increased prices.
Mr Rotheram cited “a summer of misery’” where cancellations and disruption have been rife on both Northern and TransPennine networks.
The public have faced frequent cancellations after a botched timetable change in May.
However, it was announced on Wednesday last week, as the Visiter was going to print, that the mayors’ pleas had fallen on deaf ears, and passengers in the region would be facing a minimum 3.2% price hike in 2019.
Mr Rotheram said: “The decision to increase fares on rail services is a slap in the face for rail passengers in the North.
“The secretary of state’s refusal to rule out fare increases on Northern and TPE services ahead of today’s announcement is disappointing, but hardly surprising, given his apparent indifference to the ongoing chaos experienced by passengers since the introduction of the May timetable.
“It is simply unacceptable that, after a summer of delays and cancellations, the secretary of state expects commuters in the North to pay more for a service that is arguably getting worse.
“Services between Liverpool and Manchester Airport have been cancelled for three Sundays in succession.
“It is hard to imagine that this situation would be allowed to continue if a vital service in and out of London was being cancelled with such regularity.
“The secretary of state had an oppor- tunity to show that he really is on the side of Northern commuters, but instead he sided with the underperforming operators.
“I urge him to think again and deliver the fare freeze next year that passengers in the North deserve.”
The Trade Union Congress echoed Mr Rotheram’s complaints, branding the increase in prices insulting.
TUC North West regional secretary Lynn Collins said: “This is an insult to commuters across the region.
“After a year of delays, cancellations and overcrowded trains the last thing they deserve is another wage-busting fare hike.
“It’s time to bring services back under public ownership.
“This would free up money to lower ticket prices and allow for much-needed investment in our railways, including keeping the guards on our trains.
“It’s quite a strange logic that workers are expected to pay more when they have been getting less of a service than before.
“Private train companies are squandering millions every year on shareholder dividends.
“Chris Grayling should be getting tough on them, not threatening to cut rail workers’ pay.”
A TUC spokesman added that analysis conducted by the congress last week showed that fares have increased at more than twice the speed of wages since 2008.
The TUC’s findings show that rail fares have risen by 42% over the past ten years, while nominal weekly earnings have only grown by 18%.
TUC analysis published in January showed that UK commuters spend up to six times more of their salary on rail fares than other European passengers.
The congress bemoaned the fact that despite months of cancellations and delays, private train companies paid out at least £165m in dividends to their shareholders.
They added that the taxpayer handed £3.5bn to these companies last year (2016/17).