Grayling told ‘we won’t pay for poor railways’
Anger as annual fares go up after service failures
FORCING LONG-SUFFERING northern rail passengers to pay more for poor service is “untenable”, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling was warned last night amid anger over the latest annual rise in fares.
It was announced yesterday that the cost of regulated rail fares, which includes season tickets on most commuter routes, some off-peak return tickets on long-distance journeys and Anytime tickets around major cities, will increase by 3.2 per cent.
The hike will see annual passes from Brighton to London cost £4,846 (up £150) and Liverpool to Manchester setting workers back £3,253 (up £101).
According to Labour, a season ticket between Hull and Leeds will have risen by £982, an increase of 29 per cent, between 2010 and 2019, and a year’s worth of travel between Leeds and York will have risen by 36 per cent after yesterday’s announcement, from £1,756 to £2,312.
The announcement came as unions pledged to press ahead with above-inflation pay claims amid growing anger at a call by the Transport Secretary for lower wage rises.
Chris Grayling wrote to union general secretaries on Tuesday, stating he wants to “see lower levels of increase for passengers in future” by using the lower Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation figure, rather than the Retail Prices Index (RPI). But he suggested this can only happen if pay rises are also based on CPI.
There have been calls by Labour politicians for fares to be frozen for passengers in the North following chaos caused by the implementation of new timetables in May. Mike Cherry, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “Like all commuters, those running small businesses, their customers and staff are hugely impacted by the chaos of delays, overcrowding and cancelled trains.
“As fares increase once again, those using train services will be looking to rail companies to show that the money raised from the price hikes is being used to improve their journeys.”
Henri Murison of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, which represents civic and business leaders, said there was “a strong case that commuters wages and fare levels have fallen out of step nationally”. He added: “Basically, the ongoing costs to passengers and the economy need to be brought under control.
“If the Transport Secretary presses ahead and doesn’t intervene to stop this fare increase, he needs to give the North control over our own destiny with short term measures and longer term devolution on infrastructure improvements for those schemes the Treasury will fund and full franchise control. To pay more for poor service is untenable.”
Luke Raikes, Senior Research Fellow at think-tank IPPR North, said: “The Transport Secretary expects Northerners to dig deeper into their own pockets for the railways, but still refuses to do so himself by investing in the North’s infrastructure.”
ANOTHER DAY, yet another headache for beleaguered rail commuters with the news that unions are pressing ahead with aboveinflation pay claims.
Commuters will not begrudge hard-working front-line rail staff a penny of their modest increase, but they will feel a sense of injustice at being the ones who have to pay for it, rather than it being well planned by management, and properly funded by Government.
Instead it is inevitable that Transport Secretary Chris Grayling’s tussle with union bosses will result in commuters, already stung by plans to increase rail fares by 3.2 per cent next year, who will lose out again.
While the current travails affecting the region’s railway network are certainly not the fault of the majority of those working on the railway, union bosses would be welladvised to consider their pay claims in the context of a summer of utter chaos and misery for passengers, the vast majority of whom will have had their family and professional lives turned upside down by the transport omnishambles overseen by a Minister not fit for the office he holds.
Mick Whelan, leader of the train drivers’ union Aslef, is right to call for Mr Grayling to stop ‘turning a blind eye’ to the North’s broken transport system as he called for more money to improve rail infrastructure, continue with much-needed electrification work and reduce passenger fares.
However his counterparts in the Rail, Maritime and Transport union who are simultaneously arguing for pay increases of over 3.5 per cent for staff, should make that demand, too, of Mr Grayling, not the poor passengers who have been short-changed by a woefully inadequate service for far too long.
Their demands, along with those of this newspaper, are simple; we want a well-run and reliable railway network run by properly-paid staff who can put on sufficient services at a fair price.