Rail fares have risen at DOUBLE level of wages - and are going up again
GETTY Rail fares look set to soar despite rising 32 per cent in the last eight years
The shocking statistics were released ahead of news prices are set to soar again next year. Passengers will find out on Tuesday how much extra they will be charged in the next round of hikes. The Government links the annual January rise in Britain's regulated fares with the previous July's Retail Price Index (RPI) measure of inflation, which will be announced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Regulated fares make up almost half of all tickets and include season tickets and standard returns.
GETTY Rail fares have shot up at twice the rate of wages
They went up by 1.9 per cent in January, but the RPI figure for July this year is expected to be around 3.9 per cent, which would lead to the highest increase in fares since 2012. Analysis by the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) showed fares had shot up 32 per cent in eight years, while average weekly earnings have only grown by 16 per cent. The RMT said a new nurse or police officer commuting from Chelmsford to London, where an annual season ticket would cost £4,000 after the latest rise, would pay 20 per cent of their salary on an annual season ticket. General secretary Mick Cash said: "Government policy of suppressing workers' wages while at the same time presiding over corporate welfare on our privatised railway has resulted in a toxic combination of fare rises easily outstripping wages. "The private operators and government say the rises are necessary to fund investment but the reality is that they are pocketing the profits while passengers are paying more for less, with rail engineering work being delayed or cancelled, skilled railway jobs being lost and staff cut on trains, stations and at ticket offices."
GETTY Unions are calling for the railways to be brought back into public ownership
Enough is enough. It's time for rail services to be publicly owned, saving money for passengers and taxpayers alike TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady
Fewer than half of passengers are satisfied with the value for money of train tickets, according to the latest survey by passenger watchdog Transport Focus. TUC research show UK commuters spend up to six times as much of their salary on rail fares as other passengers in other European countries. And it said passengers suffered price hikes while private rail companies paid out £228million in dividends to their shareholders. The taxpayer, meanwhile, has paid the firms an eyewatering £3.2billion a year. TUC General Secretary Frances O'Grady said: "This is grim news for commuters, who are facing another year of fare hikes. "Enough is enough. It's time for rail services to be publicly owned, saving money for passengers and taxpayers alike."
GETTY Commuters are once again being hit in the pocket by foreign-owned train companies
Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald said the Government "simply can't justify allowing passengers to be ripped-off under privatised rail". He said: "It is outrageous that UK commuters pay over the odds in order to subsidise travel in France, Germany, Holland and Italy and generate huge profits for private train companies." A Department for Transport spokesman said: "The Government carefully monitors how rail fares and average earnings change, and keeps under review the way fare levels are calculated.
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