The imagination is all abroad

This is the time for imagination, although watching the Tory leader contenders, it is difficult to see any coming from ministers. Well, we have to try anyway. Just look at what is happening abroad in terms of trying to get people back on to the railways.

Let’s start with the modest efforts of Belgian Railways (everything about Belgium has to be modest!). Until the end of August, Belgian Railways has an excellent and simple deal: two people travel for the price of one on almost any journey. No advance booking necessary; you can buy online or at the ticket office. The Duo Ticket effectively gives halfprice rail journeys, in First or Second Class, so long as the two travellers stay together. The one exception is journeys to or from Brussels Airport station, as each passenger must pay the airport premium.

OK, Belgium is a small country and there are not going to be any enormously long journeys. Nevertheless, it is a commendable effort, but over the border in Germany they have done better. The ‘9 for 90’ monthly travel ticket means that for a three-month period, people just have to pay for one €9 ticket - and the losses will be made up by a special ‘energy cost-relief project’. The result has been a reduction in car use and therefore a big impact on the environment. A survey of towns and cities across the nation showed that 23 out of 26 had reduced congestion and traffic numbers.

Now Spain has joined in the fun by announcing that tickets for short and medium-length journeys will be free for four months starting on September 1, paid for by a windfall tax from electricity, oil and gas companies. This is in addition to a 50% reduction in public transport fares, paid by a combination of regional and central government.

What is so depressing about all this is the fact that all that is ever mentioned in the UK is fuel duty cuts for motorists, apart from a very random and poorly structured ‘ticket sale’. Oh, but we can’t afford this sort of thing, ministers say.

Well, get this: the 5p cut already brought in by Rishi Sunak in March has cost the Exchequer £2.4 billion - and there is talk among some of the Conservative leadership candidates of repeating the exercise. Well, total rail fares annually are in the order of £10bn in a non-COVID-affected year, so such a cut could be used to reduce them across the board by a quarter or more - or better still, rationalise them in the way I have suggested using a ‘basic fare’ and a far simpler system understandable to all.

Alternatively, bus annual revenue is around £5bn, so two 5p cuts on fuel duty are the equivalent of free bus fares for everyone for a year. Can you imagine the positive effects of, say, using half that money to cut fares by 50% - and greatly increasing concessions?

But no, we are stuck in the wrong loop, in which only motorists count, and the rest of the population are seen as sad losers who do not deserve financial help for their transport. Again, scope for the Labour party to do something exciting here.