Rail travel now ‘being priced out of existence’

Warning as fares rise again

TRAIN travellers face ticket price hikes amid claims the railways are being priced ‘out of existence’.

The Scottish Government is implementing increases of 1.6 per cent and 0.6 per cent for peak and off-peak travel respectively.

Meanwhile, ticket prices in England and Wales will increase by about 2.6 per cent.

Examples of the potential fare rises include a Manchester-Glasgow off-peak return increasing by £2.30 to £90.60 and a Brighton-London annual season ticket going up by £129 to £5,109.

Exact prices of tickets will be released today.

The UK, Scottish and Welsh governments took over rail franchise agreements from train operators last March, following a collapse in demand for travel caused by the coronavirus crisis.

This is expected to cost the Westminster Government alone in the region of £10billion by the middle of this year.

Fares usually become more expensive on the first working day of every year, but the 2021 rise was deferred because of the pandemic.

Bruce Williamson, of pressure group Railfuture, described the increase as ‘the usual annual punishment for rail passengers, just slightly delayed’.

He claimed the UK Government ‘should be encouraging the public to start using trains again’ when lockdown restrictions ease.

‘But instead they’re gradually pricing the railways out of existence,’ he said. ‘It just doesn’t make sense to kick the rail industry when it’s down.’

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady warned that the increase in the cost of rail travel ‘will not help commuters and city centres recover from the pandemic’.

She said: ‘The Government needs a credible plan for the future of rail that gives passengers better value.’

Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Sarah Olney called for responsibility for setting rail fares to be handed to a new, independent railway agency mandated to keep prices low.

She said: ‘It is appalling that yet again people are being hit by another grossly unfair Governmentapproved hike in rail fares.’

Rises in about half of fares – including season tickets on most commuter routes – are regulated by the UK, Scottish and Welsh governments.

Train operators determine increases in unregulated fares such as advance tickets, but this year they are heavily linked to rises in regulated tickets because governments have taken on companies’ financial liabilities.

That means the overall average increase across England and Wales is around 2.6 per cent.

Robert Nisbet, director of nations and regions at industry body the Rail Delivery Group, said it is up to the Government to decide ‘how much it wants passengers to pay towards the cost of running the railway’.

He added that train operators want to give their passengers ‘better value’ by working with ministers to create a ‘new, more flexible’ ticketing system.

‘Another grossly unfair hike’