London and Kent rail commuters to be hit by huge fare rises in 2013 (From News Shopper)
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London and Kent rail commuters to be hit by huge fare rises in 2013
9:51am Tuesday 14th August 2012 in News
Protests at London railway stations over fears of huge fare rises
Hard-hit rail commuters face a greater-than-expected 6.2 per cent hike in average fares in the new year after official figures revealed a shock rise in the inflation rate.
The retail prices index (RPI) figure for July, which is used to determine how much regulated rail fares including season and saver tickets are allowed to increase in 2013, rose to 3.2 per cent from 2.8 per cent the previous month, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The City had expected the rate to remain flat at 2.8 per cent.
The average fare increase for England is calculated by adding three per cent to RPI, meaning a hike of 6.2 per cent, although some tickets can go up by a further five percentage points - or more than 11 per cent - as long as they are balanced by cuts on other fares.
Meanwhile, protests are taking at train stations in London today over the fare rises.
Unions, transport campaigners and rail passenger groups have launched a day of action to protest at the possible "massive" fare increases and cuts to jobs and services.
A series of demonstrations are being held at more than 40 railway stations including Waterloo, Euston and Kings Cross.
Bob Crow, leader of the Rail Maritime and Transport union, said passengers will be "rightly angry" when they find out the full extent of inflation-busting fare increases imposed on them by government "diktat".
It is also feared up to 20,000 jobs are at risk under cost-cutting proposals, which will hit station staff, guards, catering and ticket offices.
Stephen Joseph, chief executive of the Campaign for Better Transport, said: "The government knows they can't continue to hit commuters - that's why they've postponed the fuel duty increase. Now they need to give the same help to rail users."
TUC deputy general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "The government is asking train operators to make cuts to staff on trains, stations and in ticket offices while continuing to receive public subsidy and give millions in dividends to shareholders."
Mr Crow said: "The case for renationalising our railways, and throwing the extortionists and rip-off merchants off the tracks, is now overwhelming. The public is sick and tired of being charged through the nose to travel on creaking, overcrowded trains while the rail companies are robbing them blind."
Transport secretary Justine Greening said: "I am keen to see what we can do to keep rail fares down to something affordable. I shall be looking at whether there is a way of doing that in the autumn but we have to stick with our deficit-reduction policy."
Michael Roberts, chief executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies, said: "The government decides the average increase of commuter ticket prices and other regulated fares which train companies will be required to introduce in January 2013.
“It has been government policy during the past eight years for passengers to pay a larger share of the cost of operating the railways and to focus taxpayers' money on investing in longer term improvements to the network. Any flexibility train companies have within the rules is to maximise revenue for the government."
Comments(15)
Citygirl83
says...
2:35pm Tue 14 Aug 12
Hk
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2:57pm Tue 14 Aug 12
joertmclark
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3:07pm Tue 14 Aug 12
the wall
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3:50pm Tue 14 Aug 12
PaulErith wrote:Really! You want to travel by train in Europe. How do they run them on time and 3/4 the price.
Whilst I actually think that the current cost of travel into central London on South Eastern is not that bad, I still think that a percentage increase this high is not justified. With many people's wages being stagnent, their standard of living is already falling. A further above inflation increase will only make things worse.
Train Companys have to keep it's shareholders sweet.
How much profit did SE trains make last year ?
PaulErith
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10:14am Wed 15 Aug 12
the wall wrote:I can't comment on the train service on Europe as I really have no idea. However, yes, I personally find South Eastern a good service. I get the train from into Cannon Street every day and would say that in the last year, I've only had a cancellation/delay on a handful of days. As I say, I don't believe they can justify the increase, but I think that currently £52 a week for a travel card is pretty good value. Obviously one's perception of value is all relative, so someone else may disagree. I used to drive to work around 20 miles away and I was doing around £200 a month in petrol with another £150 parking. Therefore, it was approx £130 more expensive. If you consider that petrol has risen since I stopped driving to work a few years back, the difference would be even more now. On top of that, I can use my travel card at weekends if I wish on buses as well. Think it's good value for money.
PaulErith wrote: Whilst I actually think that the current cost of travel into central London on South Eastern is not that bad, I still think that a percentage increase this high is not justified. With many people's wages being stagnent, their standard of living is already falling. A further above inflation increase will only make things worse.Really! You want to travel by train in Europe. How do they run them on time and 3/4 the price. Train Companys have to keep it's shareholders sweet. How much profit did SE trains make last year ?
the wall
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9:51am Thu 16 Aug 12
Do you work for the SE trains?
PaulErith
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10:30am Thu 16 Aug 12
the wall wrote:I'm not sure that one necessarily has to be able to compare it to other train services to have a good or bad feeling about the experience. Value for money and standard of service are purely one's perception. If I'd never been on another train line in my life, but found South Eastern to be cancelled 4 out of 5 days, then obviously I would say it's a bad service. Even though I'd have nothing to compare it with, I'd clearly have a negative feeling.
Then you have nothing to compare against it. So how do you know you are getting a good service ? Do you work for the SE trains?
Also, as I said, I can compare it to another form of transport, namely driving, and find it to be a lot cheaper. It's also a lot more consistent in terms of time taken. My 20 mile driving trip would normally vary between 45 mins and 1 hour 10 mins. Then there'd be the really bad days where an accident means it could be hours. My personal experience is that my train runs to schedule 99% of the time, so my perception of it is that the service is good. I don't doubt that there may well be better services that are run cheaper elsewhere.
Whether or not people think it's good or bad, the one thing I think we all agree with is that they can't justify the above inflation price hike!
the wall
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1:19pm Thu 16 Aug 12
Comparing a train journey to a car journey is a no brainer. That's like saying shall we take the bike or just one roller skate
It does not surprise me that your car journey took between 45 mins and 1 hour 10 mins. You don't know where North Woolwich is.
PaulErith
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4:22pm Thu 16 Aug 12
As for your roller skate analogy, not relevant. My comparison with my past car journeys is relevant. Not in making a direct comparison but in explaining why my perception of the train service is what it is. After a few years of battling the rush hour, when I started getting a train that turned up on schedule most of the time and cost me less, then obviously I'm going to see it in a good light. For others, they may have been doing it years and experienced untold problems. Clearly their perception will be different. It's a subjective thing - I'm neither right nor wrong - it's just my opinion!
the wall
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9:47am Fri 17 Aug 12
PaulErith wrote:Well your opinion is wrong.
No of course I don't work for them. I just have an opinion that their service is ok, and that travel cards are actually good value for money. As for your roller skate analogy, not relevant. My comparison with my past car journeys is relevant. Not in making a direct comparison but in explaining why my perception of the train service is what it is. After a few years of battling the rush hour, when I started getting a train that turned up on schedule most of the time and cost me less, then obviously I'm going to see it in a good light. For others, they may have been doing it years and experienced untold problems. Clearly their perception will be different. It's a subjective thing - I'm neither right nor wrong - it's just my opinion!
How well did the train's run when it snowed?
Broaden the mind and travel in Europe on a train. Then you will have a comparable. Here are 2 examples.
Finland : 4 feet of snow -40, trains still run on time and cheaply.
Portugal - 20 mile journey £2:50 return. That's the same as Blackfriars to Greenhithe.
PaulErith
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11:51am Fri 17 Aug 12
the wall wrote:You've surpassed youself there. Do you actually understand what the word perception means? You can disagree, but you can't tell me that it's wrong. By definition, perception is a subjective thing and can't be 'wrong'.
PaulErith wrote: No of course I don't work for them. I just have an opinion that their service is ok, and that travel cards are actually good value for money. As for your roller skate analogy, not relevant. My comparison with my past car journeys is relevant. Not in making a direct comparison but in explaining why my perception of the train service is what it is. After a few years of battling the rush hour, when I started getting a train that turned up on schedule most of the time and cost me less, then obviously I'm going to see it in a good light. For others, they may have been doing it years and experienced untold problems. Clearly their perception will be different. It's a subjective thing - I'm neither right nor wrong - it's just my opinion!Well your opinion is wrong. How well did the train's run when it snowed? Broaden the mind and travel in Europe on a train. Then you will have a comparable. Here are 2 examples. Finland : 4 feet of snow -40, trains still run on time and cheaply. Portugal - 20 mile journey £2:50 return. That's the same as Blackfriars to Greenhithe.
A little English lesson for you.
Millwall play in the Championship = Fact
Millwall are a rubbish team = My opinion
If it's not clear, please don't hesitate to let me know and I'll try to explain it in simpler terms.
In terms of your examples, you're right that sounds like good service. The thing with the snow is that in Finland and other Scandanavian countries, they know that they're going to get months of snow. It's very consistent in terms of when it will fall, and the infrastructure is designed to cope with it. Over here, on average, we may get a week of snow a year. Not necessarily saying that we shouldn't, but the issue is that we could invest millions in creating a system that would cope with the snow, but then it may not snow for another few years.
the wall
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12:17pm Fri 17 Aug 12
Proper winds you up doesn't it?
You take the interweb far to serious.
Oldchap
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6:25pm Sat 18 Aug 12
I'm sure it's easy to quote examples where fares in other countries are cheaper than in the UK, but I expect there are as many where it is cheaper here
the wall
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9:56am Mon 20 Aug 12
If you don't understand Google will guide you.
PaulErith says...
12:16pm Tue 14 Aug 12