Rail fares have rocketed this month causing controversy, Simon Banks reports.
RAIL fares have increased massively this month with prices soaring as much as 6.2 percent on average with some cases being a lot higher. The increases will have a huge effect on commuters and students.
In some cases fares are being increased by as much as 13 percent, that’s as much as £1.30 extra on a £10 train ticket. The increases are very steep and commuters could discover that travelling is too costly.
Students at university will be one of the hardest hit as they are always budgeting and travelling by train is vital to those who live on campus. Canterbury Christ Church University student Amy Muir said: “I live at university and like to go home for the odd weekend, but it’s really frustrating with the latest increases of fares. My ticket from Canterbury to Greenwich was around £20 but now its £22.50, which discourages me from going home so much now.”
For students, living away from home for the first time is daunting and managing money for the first time is a challenge. The rail increases have now added a further burden on students. This is the case, even with some students entitled to a 16-25 student rail card.
“I travel from Faversham to Canterbury every day, it used to cost £2.90 with my student rail card and now costs over £3. I know to most people it doesn’t seem like much, but every day the extra cost mounts up and it’s expensive.” Said Francesca Beacher, also a student at Christ Church.
Student Alex Brown shared this opinion, he said: “A lot of my friends at university have a student rail card as their bank offers a free card in their student package. However, my bank didn’t offer this so I haven’t had one. My rail fares have increased by just over £1 which means not only am I paying the full price without a rail card, I’m also paying more and this extra cost can really mount up and it is really worrying.”
As 2010 drew to a close, the UK was hit by severe snow storms which almost bought the railway to a standstill. Commuters all over the country experienced long delays; many cancellations and even being trapped onboard a train for over 8 hours. South Eastern received thousands of complaints over the matter and the overall opinion of the railway system was lowered as a result of it. Only weeks later, the railway has caused yet more controversy by increasing the price of tickets.
The Association of train operating companies insist that the increases are part of the government’s plans to gradually ensure that commuters and public transport users pay for the service more than the general public.
Chief Executive of ATOC Michael Roberts said: “We know times are tough for many people but fare increases will ensure that Britain can continue investing in its railways. Even with these fare increases, the money passengers spend on fares covers only half the cost of running the railways, taxpayers make up the difference. The government is sticking with the previous administration’s policy to cut the taxpayers’ contribution to the overall cost of running the railways.
“More and more people are travelling by train and demand is expected to double in the coming decades so it is more important than ever that money is spent on providing better stations, more trains and faster services. Money invested through fares has helped to bring about the record levels of customer satisfaction and punctuality on the railways today. But, in the longer term we need reform which drives down the cost of the railways by relying more heavily on the innovation and resources of the private sector to give passengers a better service and taxpayer’s better value for money.”
It is being debated if the increases really are necessary; commuters don’t seem to think so as a campaign has already started. Commuters are signing petitions and writing to the government to protest.
Commuter Andrew Knight said: “I have hated my journey to work for years with the delays and cancellations it has been a nightmare and it’s never got any better. The rail service standards are very poor and now I’m expected to pay more money for the same terrible journey, it’s disappointing.”
The campaign for better transport revealed that the average cost of a season ticket has risen by 20 percent despite commuters complaints of poor service. The CBT said: "Commuters feel like they are being pick-pocketed by the Government, expected to pay more year on year for the same poor quality service.
"Politicians need to start living in the real world and understand that people simply cannot afford to pay a fifth of their income just to do a day’s work. The Government pledged to create fair fares and we all expect them to keep that promise."
The increases are said to be vital to funding development of the railway with more trains and better service, this is also the view of London Mayor Boris Johnson, who also believes that the increases are necessary to support vital transport projects.
The top regional season ticket fare rises are from Cardiff to Bridgend, increasing by 9.84% and Birmingham to Tamworth, up by 8.88% then Leister to Coventry also up by 8%. The top London season ticket fare rises are in Gravesend up by 12.81% and Beckenham Junction, increased by 12.8% and Eltham also seeing a massive 12.8% increase.
The rail increases could price some people off of the train as costs are too high, but for the majority they will continue to pay as they have little or no choice as they have to get to work and they have to pay the price. “They know we have no other choice but to pay, so they just charge as much as they want because they can.” Said Paul Bishop, a commuter from Brighton.
Even if the increases are steep, commuters will have to grit their teeth for now. But the future doesn’t look any better with as passengers will have to dig even deeper into their pockets next year when the annual price rise formula changes to RPI plus 3% across the network.
No comments:
Post a Comment