25.04.12
2013 fare rise could hit passengers
Train fares could rise by inflation plus 3% next year, as transport secretary Justine Greening admits the reduction to inflation plus 1% this January could not be guaranteed again.
Speaking at a rail briefing in London, Greening stated that she would consider seeking a reduction closer to the end of the year.
She said: “There is no money tree out there that I can draw on. It is something that I am concerned to keep an eye on in terms of affordability of fares. It [the annual rise] is something that I would like to see come down, but I also know that we have to get some financial stability back into the rail industry.
“The sooner we can get these savings on the railways, the sooner we can end these inflation-busting fare increases. But I cannot operate in a vacuum. We are still in this European crisis. I have to fit into a broader Government picture and the Government has to look at the international picture.
“The problem passengers face is that it costs more to run the railways than it should. What passengers want is the value-for-money issue solved.”
But Manuel Cortes, general secretary of transport union TSSA, said the Government wanted to “condition passengers to the idea that ministers cannot afford to halt this fare increase”.
“That is a nonsense as we already have the highest fares inEurope. If these increases carry on until 2014, fares will have jumped by 24% during the four years of this Government. Passengers certainly will not think that we are all in this together while ministers drive by in their free chauffeur-driven cars.”
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