RAIL FARES

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The Government engineered a secret deal with First Capital Connect to double fares on much-used routes, as a cheap way of reducing overcrowding. Cheap day returns are no longer valid during the rush hour period between 4.30pm and 7pm, meaning people who have to travel home from work will be forced to pay much more for standard return tickets. Heavily used commuter belt routes such as Bedford to London will now cost passengers an extortionate £30.30 rather than £16.

And although Alistair Darling, the transport secretary at the time, announced that the deal would 'deliver better services to passengers', he failed to inform the public that the cost of many routes would double. A Department for Transport spokeswoman said, "First presented us with an option to increase some of the fares unregulated by the government. We looked at the options but they have commercial freedom to raise their fares. The company did not tell us when they planned to implement the price changes. It is a solution to overcrowding, but we are open to all methods to reduce overcrowding."

Increases are also being put forward for South West Trains, used by 140 million passengers yearly. Passenger watchdog London TravelWatch, chairman Brian Cooke, said, "It was devious of the government not to make clear what had been agreed in First's bid. Ministers wanted First to do their own dirty work. When a franchise is agreed, the government should immediately publish all of the terms, not just the attractive bits." Mr Cooke said adding extra carriages would have immediately helped overcrowding, rather than pricing commuters out of peak time travel.

A spokeswoman for First Capital Connect said, "The fare increases have worked well so far to reduce overcrowding during peak times. We are however reducing the number of stations affected from 37 to 25." (Source: Mail on Sunday, Jun/06)

Facing peak fares in excess of £200 for a three-hour journey, a small but growing band of rail users have discovered that the UK's complex fares structure can be turned to their advantage. Why pay the full peak-time fare to Newcastle when you can, perfectly legitimately, buy two tickets and make exactly the same journey saving £80? Travelling from Cornwall to the Midlands? Again, buy two tickets and you save yourself 25%. Can't find a promised low-fare on a certain journey? Then try buying four single tickets instead, and save yourself a packet. The fact that it is now possible to look up all fares on the internet means that you can work out the anomalies in the system and use them to your advantage.

Gwyneth Dunwoody, chair of the Commons transport select committee that recently produced a damming report on fares, said, "Unless rail companies stop cheating passengers by continuing to drop the cheaper fares that have traditionally been available, they will quite reasonably find other ways to travel." A spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies pointed out that the anomalies are in no way new.

He said, "In any big fares structure, such things will always happen and we are aware of them. However, you cannot expect ticketing staff to take customers through the various options, not least because they would not necessarily have access to the information, but also because huge queues would build up in ticket offices." (Source: The Guardian, Jun/06)

Passengers face above-inflation price rises for rail tickets from January 2007. Unregulated fares, which companies are able to set themselves and cover tickets such as cheap day returns, will increase by between 3% and 7%. The Association of Train Operating Companies said the money was needed to pay for ongoing service improvements. Regulated fares, which include season tickets and saver tickets, are determined by the Department for Transport and account for 40% of tickets sold.

Most train companies will raise fares by 4.3%, 1% above inflation, when the new prices are introduced. Merseyrail is to increase its regulated fares by 3.2%, while the Southeastern trains service between Kent and London will go up by 6.3% under the terms of its new franchise. Island Line prices will go up by 5.3% while there will be no increase for Hull Trains and Heathrow Express passengers. Unregulated fares, which account for 60% of tickets sold, will go up by varying amounts depending on train operator, with an average rise of 4.7%.

There are also big increases planned for the two dedicated airport services, the Gatwick Express and Heathrow Express, which will both see rises of 7.3%. Atoc director general George Muir said, "While no-one likes to pay more for their travel, we need the revenue to pay for the ongoing improvements to the railways that passengers expect - and overall satisfaction levels are now at an all time high of 80%. Train operators will continue to raise their game, delivering further improvements to the railway and enhancing the travel experience of passengers." (Source: BBC News, Nov/06)