Rail fares rise three times faster than wages

That’s why today, for fares we can control, we are putting an end to inflation-busting fare increases.

Sussex rail commuters will see their fares rise by one per cent in 2016 – in line with inflation.

The CPI 12-month rate (the amount prices change over a year) between July 2014 and July 2015 stood at 0.1%.

Mrs Seymour, a West Midlands MEP, said: “This is not before time”. The move would save someone commuting from York to Leeds four days a week around £400 a year compared to a traditional season ticket. It is clear that passengers are being ripped off – forced to pay ever higher prices to travel on trains that are increasingly overcrowded and unreliable.

The government had already announced regulated rail fares in England would rise by no more than RPI inflation for this parliament.

THE GOVERNMENT’S latest promise to cap the annual increase in rail fares is unlikely to appease commuters whose travel costs have risen almost three times faster than wages over the past five years – they find themselves paying for the privilege of standing on an overcrowded train because investment has failed to keep pace with the increased public demand for the railways. I think what they are striking about, which is giving people 24-hour access on the Tube, and wanting more pay in a job that is actually relatively highly paid, is unacceptable.

But this just means that the public will finance the fair cap through taxes, and in fact the capping of rail fares is forecast to cost taxpayers around £700 million over the next five years, according to Department for Transport figures.

But Rail Minister Claire Perry says regulated fares will not increase faster than inflation over the next five years.

TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes, who was among those speaking at the launch, said: “It is very clear that Jeremy is articulating what the British people wants”.

The charity’s public transport campaigner Martin Abrams said: “The UK government and train operators are dragging their feet, meaning many part-time workers are being priced off the railway”.

“The poor performance in the south-east in particular highlights how Network Rail and operators need to deliver a more consistent day-to-day service which passengers can rely on”, the watchdog’s passenger director, David Sidebottom, said.