EXCLUSIVE: Commuters will be hit by fare rises of up to nine per cent

 
tube train LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 05: Commuters wait for a train at a London Underground station on March 5, 2012 in London, England. London's underground rail system, commonly called the tube, is the oldest of its kind in the world dating back to 1890. It carries approximately a quarter of a million people around its network every day along its 249 miles of track and 270 stations. The network has undergone several years of upgrade work and refurbishment in preparation for the Olympic Games which take place this summer. During this time the tube is expected to carry millions of visitors to and from the Olympic Parks.
Dan Kitwood/Getty
5 August 2013

Millions of commuters face inflation-busting fare rises of up to nine per cent, the Evening Standard can reveal.

Fares for train, Tube and bus journeys are due to go up by around 4.3 per cent on average in the new year, based on a formula set by the Government.

The increases mean a further squeeze on most family budgets because average incomes are rising well below inflation and millions have had their salaries frozen.

Passenger groups said the extra cash squeeze on commuters was “worrying” while unions said working people would struggle to afford them.

Commuter watchdog London TravelWatch said: “We are worried about the risk of further fare increases in the next few years when many passengers’ incomes are falling in real terms and they have few alternatives.”

Regulated fares, which include most season tickets and off-peak tickets, go up on average by a formula set by Whitehall of the Retail Prices Index for the previous July plus one per cent.

Unfortunately for passengers July’s figure — which will be officially revealed on August 13 — is forecast by City experts to be 3.3 per cent. Last year it was 3.1 per cent. Howard Archer, chief economist of Global Insight, said: “This is somewhat unlucky for rail users.”

David Sidebottom, director of campaign group Passenger Focus, said: “For hard-pressed passengers, especially those who rely on the train for work, the prospect of more inflation-busting fare rises next January is a worrying one.

“Passengers already pay some of the highest fares in Europe and our most recent passenger survey showed that just 43 per cent of passengers in London and the South-East felt that their ticket was value for money.”

The Government is allowing rail bosses to put up the cost of some individual journeys by a maximum of about 9.3 per cent if they wish.

But Mr Sidebottom said this flexibility was “unfair”. Last year’s average rise was 4.2 per cent but some passengers faced rises of more than five per cent.

Specific fares will not be set until the autumn. Manuel Cortes, leader of the TSSA rail union, said rail travel was becoming a rich man’s toy. “Another hike in rail fares of more than four per cent will mean thousands of London commuters will join that new elite club of the squeezed middle — those paying £5,000 a year for their annual season tickets.

Passengers travelling in from Ramsgate, Baldock, Salisbury and Dover will all now be forking out £100 a week just to get to the office from next January. They will be suffering along with those already in the five grand club, Milton Keynes, Huntingdon and Colchester. All this from a Coalition that says we are all in it together; clearly rail passengers are really in it more than everyone else.”

Mayor Boris Johnson will formally set the London fare rises later this autumn, but his business plan assumes the full increase will go ahead. Last year he was given £96 million of Treasury funding to hold the rise down slightly.

Steve Allen, Transport for London’s managing director of finance, said: “The Mayor has made clear his intention to keep fares affordable for Londoners, balanced against the need to maintain investment in London’s transport network.”

David Cameron last year capped future fare rises at RPI+1%, scrapping an old formula that allowed even bigger rises. But shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle accused the Government of breaking its word because rail bosses can impose rises of nine per cent on some routes.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: “We want to see railways, and the benefits they deliver to our economy, grow so we are investing record amounts in the network. But we also recognise the need to give rail passengers a better deal on fares. That is why we have capped rail fare rises at RPI+1.

"And it is why we will announce a range of further measures to benefit the passenger when we publish our fares and ticketing review later in the year.”

Shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle accused the Government of breaking its word because rail bosses can impose rises of nine per cent on some routes.

“David Cameron and George Osborne are totally out of touch with the cost of living crisis facing Britain’s commuters,” she said. “Another fare rise of up to nine per cent will yet again expose as a complete sham the Prime Minister’s pledge to limit fare rises to one per cent above inflation.”

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