UK rail fares to increase by 5.9% from January

[John Ashworth]

UK rail fares to increase by 5.9% from January

Above-inflation fare increases are guaranteed for years to come, with ticket prices due to increase by RPI +3% in 2013 and 2014

Dan Milmo industrial editor
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 20 December 2011 19.17 GMT

Passenger groups and green campaigners reacted with outrage after train operators announced above-inflation fare increases of 5.9% in 2012 that added to the twin pressures of higher prices and stagnant wages bearing down on millions of Britons.

The rise in fares add to a slew of statistics that point to a further squeeze on living standards next year amid high fuel costs, rising unemployment and a UK economy close to a double-dip recession, with the gap between wages and prices at its widest point since the early 1980s. Coming weeks after the government confirmed below-inflation wage deals for public sector workers from 2013, millions of commuters now face season ticket rises higher than the current retail prices index (RPI) measure of inflation, which was 5.2% in November and is a common benchmark for salary negotiations.

The Association of Train Operating companies said it was implementing fare levels set by ministers, as a leading environmental group warned that increased travel costs will threaten attempts to revive the moribund jobs market.

"In these times of zero or declining family income, 6% fare rises are well beyond what people can afford," said Stephen Joseph, chief executive of the Campaign for Better Transport.

"It is getting to the point where it prices people out of jobs, particularly for low paid workers who come in from the suburbs to work in the centre of London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds."

The increases mean that a season ticket from Bournemouth to London will rise from £5,424 to £5,748, while Cambridge to London will increase from £4,000 to £4,240 and, outside of the main commuter routes in the south east, the annual fare from Manchester to Preston will increase from £2,356 to £2,496.

Rail presents a political quandary for the government because ministers are determined to reduce the £4bn a year the state puts into the network, compared with £6.6bn from farepayers. However, that requires raising fares on commuter routes in the coalition government heartlands, prompting the chancellor to temper the looming season ticket increases by announcing last month that they will be held at 6% next year rather than the 8% previously announced. Despite that gesture, above-inflation fare increases are guaranteed for years to come, with ticket prices due to increase by RPI +3% in 2013 and 2014.

Passenger Focus, the rail user watchdog, said train operators appeared to have shown restraint by declining to use a clause that allows them to impose a further increase of 5% on some season tickets. Anthony Smith, Passenger Focus chief executive, said: "It could have been a lot worse but 6% is still a whacking great rise in the context of a service where people don't have a lot of choice about what they have to pay. It also exceeds anything people are getting in their pay packets. It is a pretty hefty sum."

Train operators deflected the criticism as they pointed to the "long-standing" policy of successive governments to place an increasing funding burden on farepayers. According to ATOC, out of every pound of income that privately-owned operators receive, half is given to the government-backed owner of Britain's tracks and stations, Network Rail, with 3p going to operators' profits. ATOC's chief executive, Michael Roberts, said cutting industry costs would "provide space" for the government to set lower fares.A spokesman for the Department for Transport said ministers had reacted to the squeeze on household budgets by capping fare hikes at RPI + 1% this year, equivalent to an increase of 6%, instead of the planned RPI +3%, equivalent to a hike of 8%, that had been mooted previously. "The government recognises the pressure on family budgets. That is why we announced that 2012 regulated rail fares will rise by an average of inflation plus 1%, not plus 3% as set out in the review," the spokesman said.

Transport costs have weighed increasingly on family budgets amid rising petrol costs, with road transport accounting for more than 90% of passenger travel in the UK, compared with 8% for rail. Petrol is close to year highs at 132.4p for a litre of unleaded and 141p for diesel, adding £210 to the average annual fuel bill for a motorist compared with last year. Edmund King, AA president, said: "The big unknown going into the New Year for many millions of people is the cost of fuel, particularly for those on low incomes. The cost of fuel can make up 20% of household expenditure for the lowest earning households and if they have a job they need a car to keep that job, so fuel is pretty fundamental to them."


Leading article: Rising train fares are taking the wrong track

Independent
WEDNESDAY 21 DECEMBER 2011

Britain already has the highest train fares in Europe and they are about to shoot up again, outstripping even inflation. Unregulated fares – such as the peak intercity tickets that make up 60 per cent of journeys – may soar by 13 per cent. And even the most modest increases are nearly three times more than the average UK wage rise.

The rail companies say they need the money for investment, not least since subsidies have been trimmed by two-thirds since 2006. Even so, in a climate of economic uncertainty, reduced consumer confidence and public-spending cuts, the fare hikes are far from helpful.

The Government's defence is that the rises would have been higher had the Chancellor not intervened. That is little comfort. With rail travel in increasing danger of becoming the preserve of the wealthy, it is the green agenda that will suffer as Britons stick to their cars. More must be done to make train tickets affordable.


'EYE-WATERING' 11% INCREASE IN TRAIN FARES

Phillip Hammond had said earlier this year that train travel is becoming a “rich man’s toy"

Express
Wednesday December 21,2011
By John Ingham

TRAIN travellers will be hit hard in the New Year by “eye-watering” fare increases after operators announced yesterday that prices will rise by an average 5.9 per cent – with some soaring by up to 11 per cent.

Season tickets prices will rise beyond £8,000-a-year for some commuters following the above-inflation increases.Critics say the rises show that Philip Hammond was right earlier this year when as Transport Secretary he said train travel is becoming a “rich man’s toy”.

Operators are allowed to increase some fares by up to five per cent above average.

This will leave passengers facing up to 11 per cent rises in some cases – more than twice the rate of inflation.
Train companies were accused of “burying bad news” by only revealing the average increase and leaving passengers to find specific rises among the millions of fares.

The price increases will include a six per cent rise to travel from London to Swindon, with season tickets and London travelcards on that route going up by £456 from £7,592 to £8,048.

Rail watchdog Passenger Focus said the biggest increase it had uncovered so far is 9.6 per cent for off-peak returns from London to Exeter and Plymouth which will rise to £91 and £94 to £103 respectively.

Other major increases include 8.6 per cent on an off-peak return from London to Kettering (up from £58 to £63), 8.4 per cent on an anytime return from Birmingham to Edinburgh (up from £214 to £232), and 8.3 per cent on an anytime return from Bristol to Edinburgh (up from £289 to £313).

Commuters facing a £4,000-plus season ticket and travelcard include those travelling to London from Brighton (up £340 from £4,304 to £4,644).

And commuters using the high-speed line into London from Ashford International will have to pay £5,504 for their season tickets – up £312.

Manuel Cortes, leader of the TSSA transport union accused train operators of “increasing the squeeze on passengers during a recession.”

But Michael Roberts, chief executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies, said: “Actually people are voting with their feet and their wallets increasingly to travel by train. Last year we carried an extra hundred million passengers.”