Rail fares set to jump 8 per cent
Commuters face more train travel misery as high inflation means ticket prices will increase by 8 per cent or more.
As well as putting the squeeze on household budgets, the latest inflation figures – released today – will also hit commuters.
The consumer prices index (CPI) has risen to 4.4 per cent – the 20th month in a row that CPI has missed the Bank of England’s 2 per cent target.
But for train travellers, the sting comes in another inflationary measure, the retail prices index, which was steady at 5 per cent. The reason this is a blow for commuters is because July’s inflation figures are used to work out the annual rise for rail fares the following January.
The formula used to calculate the fare hike is RPI plus 3 per cent. As such, train fares are set for increases of 8 per cent – or more – in January. Train companies are allowed to make the 8 per cent figure an average, so some fares could go up much more than that. The rise applies to season and saver tickets.
Fair Fares Now campaigners, led by the Campaign for Better Transport, are protesting at London’s Waterloo station against the price rise. They are supported by the RMT transport union.
This could drive people off the railways. Sharmaine Mackin, rail passenger
RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said the Government was “forcing through inflation-busting fare increases and savage cuts to maximise private train company profits.”
Affordable rail travel ‘vital’
Campaign for Better Transport’s public transport campaigner Alexandra Woodsworth said: “Affordable rail travel is vital for passengers, for the environment and for our workforce. These massive fare rises will be a disaster for people already struggling with rising costs, and risk pricing those on lower incomes out of jobs in our major cities.
“Our demonstration is sending a clear message to Government that the country simply can’t afford fare rises on such a punitive scale. It’s time to burst the bubble on inflation-busting fare hikes.”
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The hit is even worse for commuters than normal because the Government changed the formula for working out 2012 ticket prices from the old system, adding 1 per cent to RPI, to 3 per cent.
Speaking at Waterloo station, travellers said fares were already expensive and there was little justification for another hike.
“This could drive people off the railways,” said Sharmaine Mackin, 25, who had just travelled in to London from Bracknell in Berkshire.