‘Rail season tickets £694 more than when Tories won power’
COMMUTERS are paying almost £700 more a year for season tickets than when the Tories came to power, Labour claimed as the latest price hikes took effect.
The average traveller will be paying £2,888 for their season ticket, £694 a year more than in 2010, according to Labour’s analysis.
Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald said fares had risen three times faster than wages during the period.
Labour compared costs in cash terms on over 180 routes between when the Conservatives came to power and the new prices.
The highest increase was on a Virgin Trains season ticket between Birmingham and London Euston, which will have risen by £2,539 since 2010 and now costs £10,567, the analysis showed. The biggest percentage increase identified was between Tame Bridge Parkway and Nuneaton, where the cost of an annual season ticket will have risen by 50% since 2010 – from £1,948 to £2,916.
In Theresa May’s own constituency, the cost of an annual season ticket from Maidenhead to London Paddington has risen by £732 since 2010, a 31% increase from £2,360 to £3,092.
Mr McDonald said: “The Tories’ failure on our railways means passengers have faced truly staggering fare rises of over £2,500 since 2010, with fares having increased three times as much as wages.
“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 railways need serious reform that could be achieved if the Tories matched Labour’s manifesto policy to extend public ownership to passenger services, but instead ministers are persisting with a failed model of privatisation that is punishing passengers.”