'Total rip-off': anger at rail fare rises as fewer trains run on time

Commuters and politicians today called for rail fare increases to be pegged to punctuality as workers returning from the Christmas break faced the biggest rise in ticket prices for six years.

Sadiq Khan suggested a “carrot and stick” approach to incentivise private rail operators to improve reliability in return for the right to increase prices.

The 3.1 per cent average rise in fares adds between £100 and £200 to a typical season ticket to London — despite last year being the worst for delays since 2005, with one in seven trains failing to arrive on time.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn branded the fare increases a “disgrace”, but Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said the wage demands of the rail unions had fuelled the rises.

Sadiq Khan with protesters at Waterloo
Alex Lentati

Mr Khan, who has frozen bus and Tube fares for the third successive year, told the Standard: “What we have done with TfL services is to make sure they’re extremely punctual. That is one of the things we should look at, carrots and sticks. If a train operating company is regularly providing trains that are not punctual, and there are delays and cancellations, there should be some sticks that are open to the Government.”

Campaigning at Waterloo station, the Mayor, who declined to say whether his fares freeze would continue into a second mayoral term, said rail privatisation “hasn’t worked”. He said fares had risen a “disgraceful” 8.8 per cent over the past three years, in contrast to the freeze in TfL fares.

But Mr Grayling told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The increases are higher than they should be because the unions demand — with threats of national strikes — higher pay rises than anybody else. Typical pay rises are more than three per cent and that’s what drives the increases.”

Long suffering commuters at Waterloo as rail fares increase
Alex Lentati

Examples of increases in season tickets include £148 for Brighton to London (from £4,696 to £4,844), £130 for Gloucester to Birmingham (£4,108 to £4,238), and £100 for Manchester to Liverpool (£3,152 to £3,252). The annual cost from Theresa May’s constituency of Maidenhead to London has increased by £96 (£3,092 to £3,188).

At Victoria station, marketing manager Lindsay Fielding, 33, said: “The cost to travel on trains is far too high here, especially compared to other countries in Europe. It just starts the New Year off on a bad note, knowing you are paying even more for a train that may not even turn up.”

Jeremy Corbyn joins protesters at rail station
PA

Eloise Burton, 41, a software trainer from Stratford, said: “I don’t agree with the rise because you don’t get what you pay for. I support renationalisation because the trains were privatised to increase competition but the service is now awful.”

Sara Lewis, 26, a teacher from Stevenage, said: “The trains are the worst I’ve ever seen and to raise the fares is insulting when there are so many delays or cancellation. I rely on the train to King’s Cross three days a week and it’s often either late or seriously overcrowded. I’m a new teacher so my salary isn’t that high but I pay almost £4,500 for my annual ticket. My brother lives in Holland and pays less than half of that. It’s a total rip-off.”

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