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Commuters set to face 'staggering' hike in train fares

Joe Watts
Political Editor
Tuesday 16 August 2016 11:21 BST
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Jeremy Corbyn has claimed renationalisation could improve services and lower regulated fares by 10%
Jeremy Corbyn has claimed renationalisation could improve services and lower regulated fares by 10%

Rail passengers face a higher than expected 1.9% hike in fares from January amid calls for services to be nationalised.

The increase – almost double the rate of the rise this time last year – comes as passengers held protests at stations this morning demanding better services.

Regulated rail fares, including season tickets and off-peak InterCity tickets, will rise in line with July’s RPI inflation figure published today this morning.

Last year the fares rose by just 1%, with many expecting the announcement today to see them rise by 1.5% next year.

General Secretary of TSSA union Manuel Cortes branded today’s jump as “staggering”.

Research by the TUC and the Action for Rail union campaign showed that fares have risen by 25% in the last six years, while average weekly earnings have grown by 12%.

The TUC claimed that at the same time dividends to train firm shareholders had risen by 21% to more than £200 million in the last year.

The rate of increase was disputed by the Association of Train Operating Companies, representing rail firms, but ATOC’s Chief Executive Paul Plummer claimed £200 million dividends pocketed every year by shareholders is “small profits” necessary to guarantee improving services.

He told BBC news: “It allows you to have different operators, on different routes, bidding for the right to run a franchise which is specified by the government to deliver the best possible value for the nation.”

Campaigners from Action for Rail were holding protests at rail stations across the country this morning demanding renationalisation of the railway.

Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn has claimed renationalisation could improve services and lower regulated fares by 10%.

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