Right on time: rail fares to rise by 3.5pc amid ‘chaos’
RAIL passengers are facing a 3.5 per cent fare increase, costing longer-distance commuters almost £200 a year.
It comes months after tens of thousands of journeys were disrupted or cancelled due to a failure to implement planned timetable changes.
Yesterday marked the third successive Sunday of cancellations on Northern Rail – with 80 of 1,500 services not running. It was branded “chaotic and unacceptable” by the deputy mayor of Manchester.
Mick Cash, the RMT union general secretary, called for Arriva to be stripped of its Northern franchise. A spokesman for Northern said: “We are sorry that our customers continue to experience some disruption to their weekend services.”
A Campaign for Better Transport spokesman said: “Given the mess surrounding the new timetable, the lack of improvements and the failure to deliver compensation, the Government cannot go on telling passengers that fare increases are justified.”
Rail fare prices have increased by 40 per cent since 2008. The latest rise will be confirmed on Wednesday with analysts at both Investec and EY Item Club predicting it will be 3.5 per cent.
A Department for Transport spokesman said increases were “unwelcome”, but added it was “not fair” to ask those who did not use trains to pay more for those who do.
It comes as Which? revealed overall passenger satisfaction with punctuality and reliability had fallen by six percentage points since 2008, down to 73 per cent. Regular commuters’ satisfaction is even lower, down 10 points to 62 per cent, while just 23 per cent of people say they trust train travel companies – a near six-year low.
July’s inflation figures are used to calculate the rise in rail fares to take effect in the new year. On Wednesday, it is expected to be announced that the increase for regulated prices, like commuter season tickets, will be 3.5 per cent. In recent years this has been the cue for an annual ritual whereby the train operating companies fend off the indignation of their customers by insisting that the railways are better than ever, with more investment, improved rolling stock and rising passenger numbers.
But this time, the explanations are unlikely to wash. In the past 12 months, the East Coast main line has effectively been renationalised as the London North Eastern Railway (LNER), after Virgin was forced to hand back the franchise following heavy losses.
In the Northern region and in the South on Govia Thameslink routes, the botched move to new timetables has left hundreds of thousands of travellers unsure of when their train will arrive, or if indeed it will arrive at all. Yesterday, Northern cancelled 80 Sunday services, a common practice this summer. How long is this fiasco going to be allowed to continue?
Much of the blame has been laid at the door of Network Rail for not being ready for the new timetable. In a recent report, the Office of Rail and Road blamed “systemic failings” at the company for the mess because upgrades on which the new timetables depended had not been completed.
Since this body is effectively state-run, it gives the lie to the Labour Party’s contention that everything would be better if only the railways were renationalised. But that does not obviate everyone else of responsibility. It is outrageous to expect passengers to pay more if the situation on the railways has not improved markedly by the new year. Why should they stump up extra money for trains that don’t arrive or are jam-packed if they do?
There can be no other industry where prices and standards are so out of kilter and where the service is run in such a slipshod way. No one seems to be taking any responsibility for this fiasco, including Chris Grayling, the Transport Secretary.
Instead of announcing another annual rise this week, the Government should demonstrate its support for long-suffering travellers by freezing fares on the worst-affected routes.