Info about price rises

[GodAtum]

More info about train price rises in a PDF:

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2010/12/31/RailMap2.pdf

from here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/dec/31/train-fares-petrol-fare-increases

And a video from BBC News:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/people_and_places/newsid_9328000/9328312.stm

 

[jon0844]

Nice to see the Guardian didn't just put a giant '46%' increase on the page and kept to the 'real world' figures (even though I think FCC is totally out of order to scrap the season tickets for those going against the flow).

The document makes just as much of an impact (as it will in the coming years too) as the sensationalist nonsense printed by the Daily Mail.

Perhaps, given the increases are compounded - as time goes on, that 5-6% will be a much larger sum each time - and the increase is going to get out of control. It would be good to see a comparison to what fares were in, say, 1996 or 2000, and show the difference - with a comparison with inflation. Then we could get a good indication of whether travel has become more expensive, cheaper or about the same, since privatisation.

 

[Mojo]

Like the Guardian map also, helps to dispel the myth that price rises are all about profit.

 

[MikeWh]

How are people from Tonbridge suppoed to use HS1? There are two ways as far as I can see, but both mean there will be little difference in time compared to going direct. They can either go the wrong way to Ashford, or crawl up the Medway Valley. Is either a realistically better option? Looks like a con to me ... or am I missing something?

 

[jon0844]

Isn't it the cast that of every pound, the TOC gets a tiny amount? Sure, it adds up (like profit on a litre of fuel being small) but it isn't just a case that a TOC has added 6% and is pocketing all that extra money and giving it to the MD.

 

[bb21]

I actually find the stats a little misleading, eg. Derby - Notts might be in EMT operating territory but the fare is set by XC.

 

[Paul Kelly]

That is well-spotted; Derby to Nottingham isn't included in the table released by Passenger Focus, which incidentally only contains one example of an EMT fare - did the Guardian try to do their own "original" research to add to this and guess wrongly about who the fare setter was for that flow?

 

[jon0844]

Having seen that, perhaps the Guardian didn't do as much research after all - and only left out the 46% figure because Passenger Focus did.

Bloody SET are taking the p*** aren't they? Nobody should have their ticket increase by nearly £500, and that's before the big increases! It says 'any permitted' so I have to assume that includes HS1?

 

[paul1609]

Isn't it the cast that of every pound, the TOC gets a tiny amount? Sure, it adds up (like profit on a litre of fuel being small) but it isn't just a case that a TOC has added 6% and is pocketing all that extra money and giving it to the MD.

I think (but I'd welcome correction) that at least 2 TOCs are actually losing money for their parent group, with inflation running at 4.7%, 6 % doesnt have much affect of their bottom line I'd have though.

 

[GodAtum]

A campaign against rail fare rises has begun as millions of commuters return to work after the Christmas break.

The Campaign for Better Transport asked passengers at London's Charing Cross station to sign petitions, write to the government and take part in protests.

Season ticket prices rose by an average 5.8% from Sunday - with some up by as much as 13%.

Supporters of the campaign donned masks depicting David Cameron and Nick Clegg, while one wore a mask of Transport Secretary Philip Hammond.

The campaign has also won the backing of broadcaster Michael Palin, whose said passengers being "held to ransom" would be forced on to the roads.

The Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) has calculated that the new cost of season tickets works out at about 20% of the average UK salary.

It's a shame my weekly commute to my volunteer job in Uxbridge has increased!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12109851

 

[swt_passenger]

Er, don't they mean:

"The Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) has calculated that the new cost of SOME season tickets works out at about 20% of the average UK salary."

The season tickets that have just gone up to 'about £5000' are those that were 'about £4700' last year, when presumably they were already about 19% of the average salary, so what's the actual story?

 

[Soupdragon]

nice to see that theyve managed to get Sheffield and Meadowhall the wrong way round on the map.