Rail fares up by half since 2010, says Labour

British commuters pay far bigger percentage of their pay to get to work than European counterparts

RAIL FARES have risen by up to 50 per cent under the Conservatives, with some commuters paying £2,500 more for their season tickets.

Figures show the average commuter pays £2,888, a third more than in 2010, meaning that fares have risen three times more than wages. The biggest increase was on a Virgin Trains season ticket between Birmingham and London Euston which has risen by £2,536 since 2010 to £10,567.

It comes as commuters returning to work today face fare rises of 3.4 per cent, the largest in five years, amid claims the Government has frozen fuel increases for motorists but snubbed railway passengers.

Stephen Joseph, of the Campaign for Better Transport, said: “The extra money that season ticket-holders will have to fork out this year is almost as much as drivers will save. That doesn’t seem fair to us, especially as wages continue to stagnate. What’s good enough for motorists should be good enough for rail passengers.”

Labour compared costs on more than 180 routes between when the Conservatives came to power in 2010 and the new prices. The biggest percentage increase identified was between Tame Bridge Parkway and Nuneaton, where the cost of an annual season ticket rose 50 per cent from £1,948 to £2,916.

In Theresa May’s own constituency, the cost of an annual season ticket from Maidenhead to London Paddington rose by £732, a 31 per cent increase, to £3,092. Between Swindon and London, costs increased 32 per cent to £8,740 and between Stoke and Milton Keynes prices went up 38 per cent to £7,320.

Labour is seeking to capitalise on the issue of high fares since the railways were privatised, after suggestions that re-nationalising them had resonated with younger voters at the election.

Andy Mcdonald, shadow transport secretary, said: “Commuters have repeatedly been told that higher fares are necessary to fund investment, but the promised investment has been cancelled and essential works have been delayed by years. Decisions taken by government ministers are making rail travel unaffordable for the many in favour of huge profits for the few. The truth is that our fragmented, privatised railway drives up costs and leaves passengers paying more for less.”

The Government uses the previous July’s Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation to determine increases in regulated fares, which was 3.6 per cent in 2017. These affect around half of all tickets and include season tickets on most commuter routes and some offpeak return tickets on long-distance journeys. Train operating companies set the prices of other tickets but are bound by competition rules.

The TUC said workers travelling from Chelmsford, Essex to London will have to pay 13 per cent of their salary for a £381 monthly season ticket. That compares with 2 per cent for a comparable commute of about 30 miles in France (£66), 3 per cent in Italy (£65), 4 per cent in Germany (£118) and 5 per cent in Spain (£108) and Belgium (£144). Season tickets will increase a third faster than wages in 2018, said the TUC.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: “We are investing in the biggest modernisation of our railways since the Victorian times to improve services for passengers – providing faster and better, more comfortable trains with extra seats.

“This includes the first trains running though London on the Crossrail project, an entirely new Thameslink rail service and continuing work on the transformative Great North Rail Project. We keep fare prices under constant review and the price rises for this year are capped in line with inflation, with 97p out of every £1 paid going back into the railway.”