Scots pay six times more than rail users on continent
SCOTLAND’S commuters are spending up to six times more of their salary on rail fares than other Europeans, according to a report.
As rail passengers today are hit with the biggest fare increases in five years, latest analysis shows just how much rail travel costs in the UK compared to similar journeys on the continent.
Someone earning the average pre-tax salary of £22,900 who commutes from Perth to Edinburgh will have to pay £328 a month – or 16 per cent of their wage – to buy a season ticket.
This compares to someone commuting from Etampes in France to Paris, who will have to pay only £66 a month, or 2.5 per cent of their salary.
It is also higher than the equivalent commuter journey of someone in England. Someone on an average salary of £34,000 travelling from Chelmsford, Essex, to London will have to pay 13 per cent of their wage – or £381 a month – for a season ticket.
The hardest hit commuters north of the Border are those travelling between Edinburgh and Glasgow, which at £336 a month costs commuters an average 20 per cent of their monthly pre-tax earnings.
That compares to people who commute from other large cities such as Manchester to Liverpool, where workers pay £302.60 a month – or 10.6 per cent of their salary – and commuters in Italy who pay only 3 per cent – or £65 – to travel from Civita Castellana to Rome.
All these journeys cover distances of approximately 30 to 50 miles.
The figures come as fares rise today by a UK average of 3.4 per cent and by 3.2 per cent on ScotRail. The hike includes regulated fares such as season tickets which will rise by up to 3.6 per cent, in line with July’s Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation figure.
The figures have been compiled by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) based on an average UK salary of £34,000.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: ‘Another year, another price increase. Many commuters will look with envy to their continental cousins, who enjoy reasonably priced journeys to work.’
The increase will push up the cost of many season tickets by hundreds of pounds.
Unregulated fares, which include off-peak tickets and are set by the rail companies, have risen by almost 10 per cent in some cases.
The latest hike means the average rail fare has surged by 29 per cent since the start of the decade – almost twice the pace of wages.
It has increased pressure on the government to link rail fare rises to CPI rather than the discredited RPI measure, which is described as flawed by the Office for National Statistics.
Stephen Joseph, chief executive of the Campaign for Better Transport, said: ‘It is unacceptable that the Government continues to use the RPI to calculate rail fare rises.
‘Passengers would be forgiven for thinking they are being taken for a ride when RPI has been dropped as an official measure for most other things.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Scotland’s rail fares increase is lower than inflation and lower than the average UK increase.
‘We are undertaking a review of the National Transport Strategy, which will consider our long-term approach to ensuring the affordability of transport across Scotland.’
He added: ‘We want to see more people take the train and we recognise that this means prices have to be affordable and fair.’
A ScotRail spokesman said: ‘Eighty-five per cent of our revenue comes from fares set by the Scottish Government, which decides how much our customers pay.
‘We are investing millions of pounds to build the best railway Scotland has ever had.’