Rise in rail fares to exceed inflation

11:45am Friday 5th December 2008

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RAIL users across South Lakeland will have to pay more next year as fares are set to soar well above the rate of inflation, reports Natalie Stewart.

The Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) has announced that regulated fares such as season tickets and longer distance, off-peak fares will rise by six per cent, while unregulated fares, including most leisure and advance fares, will rise by varying amounts, with the average over the network of seven per cent.

From January 2, people travelling from Oxenholme to Windermere or Manchester Airport will see ticket prices rise by an average of six per cent for season tickets and 6.4 per cent for ordinary fares on First Trans Pennine Express trains.

Regulated and unregulated fares on the Northern Rail network are to increase by averages of six per cent and seven per cent respectively, affecting passengers at stations between Morecambe, Bentham and Giggleswick and on the Settle-Carlisle lines.

The same increases will be placed on Virgin Trains’ fares.

However, Steven Knight, spokesman for Virgin Trains, pointed out that the new timetable, which starts on December 14, would see 32 per cent more trains and reduced advance purchase ticket prices.

Allan Ball, chairman of the Furness Line Action Group (FLAG), accused train companies of ‘ripping off the general public’.

“A lot of passengers will just have to grin and bear it because they are totally reliant on travelling on the train for their employment,” he said. “But I think we’ll see a downturn in travel because people just can’t afford it.”

However, a spokesman for TransPennine Express said that the company was not anticipating a drop in passengers.

The news follows the Lakes Line Rail User Group’s latest passenger survey on trains between Oxenholme and Windermere, which revealed that numbers had increased by seven per cent since the survey in November 2006 and a one-off survey in February this year.

Dick Smith, of the group, believed that the Lakes Line fares were still good value: “Fare increases are never good news. We don’t want to put anyone off using the train.

“However, First TransPennine Express has gone for one of the lowest increases in fares, and Virgin Trains’ increase is only a little more. There will still be bargains around if you can travel at off-peak times and book in advance, but unfortunately turn-up-and-go fares will rise.”

The increased fares are part of the government’s policy to reduce the proportion of the railway’s costs paid by the taxpayer, and increase the proportion paid by the users.

Michael Roberts, ATOC chief executive said: “Passengers in recent years have helped pay for 20 per cent more services and performance in the first half of this year is at the highest level since records began.

“Yet, since 1996, in real terms, overall rail fares have risen by just five per cent and standard class regulated fares are actually lower than they were in the year before privatisation.”