NIGHTMARE
Craig.J.McCarthy
We have the most expensive train fares in the world. We pay 20% more on average than the rest of Europe, and our season tickets are twice as high. Some season tickets now cost the equivalent of a fifth of the average UK salary. Fares are set to rise 25% over the next four years – up to £1,300 more for some season tickets
8 out of 10 people oppose the Government’s plans to increase fares even
unced in h is was the single most unpopular policy anno more in 2012. T the spending review. (YouGov).
Since 1997, the cost of train travel has increased in real terms by 13%; the
cost of road travel has fallen by 14% and the average price of a one way flight from Britain has fallen by ain’s train tickets assenger Focus (2009), Brit 35% Fact: According to P are, on average, the most expensive in Europ
e.
Day return: Britain £6.92 / Germany £5.08 / Spain £2.52 / France
£1.85. (Passenger Focus; ave rages for
journeys of three to 10 miles).
Annual season ticket: Britain £1,860 / France £990 / Germany
£944 / Spain £788 / Italy £444. (Passenger Focus; averages for journeys
of 11 to 25 miles). Fact: T h e Campaign for Better
Transport explains that the fare rises, which came into effect on 2
January 2011, mean that commuters in some parts of are being asked to pay £5,192, or 20%
the country
of the
h is average UK salary, for their annual season ticket. T
is the equivalent of transport secretary Philip Hammond MP being asked to pay £27,
034 for a season ticket
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We pay too much! Peak fares can start at 3pm. Train operators Virgin and East Coast charge passengers peak fares from as early as 3pm, an investigation has found. Network Rail up to 40% less efficient in maintaining railway tracks and stations than European rivals, says regulator (September 2010) The 07.42 from Reading to London Paddington, operated by First Great Western, carried on average 326 passengers more than the train’s capacity of 533. Described by the DfT as a ‘very popular service into Paddington’, it was one of 10 trains identified in a Freedom of Information reply. The figures were compiled in a snapshot survey taken in late 2009. Overcrowding on trains in England and Wales will get substantially worse over
the next four years despite rises in ticket prices, according to a report by MPs on The Public Accounts Committee (October 2010) Normally you would expect to buy one train ticket covering the whole train journey from ‘A’ to ‘D’. Depending on your route and time of travel, you may find it a lot cheaper to ‘split Your ticket’ by buying separate train tickets that cover the segments from A to B , B to C and C to D. Some websites claim to help commuters save money splitting their tickets. A recent YouGov poll found that the planned fare hikes for 2012 were the single most unpopular policy announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review, opposed by eight out of 10 people