London: Worst Rail Fare Hike in 5 Years

Commuters into London have been hit by strikes and rogue leaves on the line, by mechanical faults and shortages of train staff, by wind, rain, hail and whatever other excuses the rail companies can lay their hands on.

Now, they are being whacked by train fares. Regulated rail fares that are already the highest in Europe will rise in January by up to 3.6%.

The permitted fare hike was derived from the Retail Price Index (RPI) for July but it is well above most measures of inflation and will be the highest rise for five years. And that comes when London commuters are already paying the highest per-mile fares in Europe, according to a report released earlier this year by the lobby group Action for Rail.

Commuters travelling between Luton and St Pancras were found to be spending 14% of an average wage on their £387 monthly ticket.

Legal secretary Lin Donnelly travels between the two stations each work day and condemned the fare hike as “ brutal, just brutal.” As she arrived home in Luton she said the high fares were one thing “but each evening I have to stand on the train. There’s never a seat. The price I pay now is not worth it.”

“I earn a better salary because I work in London but this latest increase is another nail in the coffin for my life as a commuter,” she said. “I love my job and the people I work with but I just can’t afford to go on like this. Each year, it’s increase after increase.”

A monthly pass for a route of similar distance in France costs £61, or less than a sixth of the London fare and just 2.4% of the French average monthly wage. In Italy the equivalent ticket would cost £62, or 3.1 % of the average monthly wage. But like 24-year-old Donnelly, more than a third of all rail commuters travelling into London have to stand to get to work, official figures reveal.

No seats

A total of 35% of commuters on services into Blackfriars cannot get a seat, and neither can almost a third on trains into other stations including Waterloo, Fenchurch Street and Moorgate. Blackfriars has the worst proportion of crowding of all major stations in the capital, at 14% in the morning peak, according to figures from the Department for Transport.

The Retail Price Index rate for July is always used to determine how much train operators can raise the price of regulated rail fares. Stephen Joseph, chief executive of the group Campaign for Better Transport, said the new fare hike “will be the highest since 2013 and will leave many commuters struggling to meet the cost of their commute next year.”

“That’s why we want the Government to bring in a fares freeze for January. It’s frozen fuel duty for the last seven years and we think rail fares should be given the same treatment.”

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has often spoken of the important role that the hundreds of thousands of commuters play in London’s economy, and he hit out at the latest fare hike. “It beggars belief that the Government is yet again choosing to inflict sky-high rail fare increases on commuters who have suffered another year of strikes, delays and overcrowded services,” he said.

“The Government simply cannot continue this cycle of misery. There’s still time for ministers to stop this unacceptable fare increase and I’m calling on them to do the decent thing and match my TfL fares freeze for the good of all Londoners.”

The RMT union has unveiled its own research showing that rail fares have risen by around 32% in eight years, while average weekly earnings have grown by only 16%.

 

by Bob Graham

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