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Passengers paying more for cost of the railway than five years ago

Train companies operating margins as a proportion of revenue are now lower than they were when franchising began, statistics released by the Rail Delivery Group have shown.

The organisation stated that around 97p of every pound collected from train fares goes back into running and improving the railway. The other 3p is used to enable investment by train companies.

But there was also bad news for customers: passengers are paying more for the cost of the railway proportionally. Over 70% of the railway is funded by passengers, compared to 57% in 2010-11 – a whopping 14 percentage point increase.

This is happening because wages have reportedly grown faster than the price of train travel. Since 1999-2000, average salaries have risen by 2.1% in real terms, while the average price paid per journey has decreased by 5.3% in real terms.

Top Image: Lauren Hurley PA Wire

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