MSE News: Autumn Budget Statement: Train fares to rise 6%

Former_MSE_Helen

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"The Government will reduce the planned 8% hike in January to 6%. London tube and bus fares will also rise 6% ..."

Read the full story:

Autumn Budget Statement: Train fares to rise 6%

Jeff_Bridges_hair

Well its better then 8% I guess.

Kushan

It's better, but I still think Train fares are ridiculous. I remember when the 8% was announced a while back, part of the logic they gave was "some journeys are overcrowded, so we've raised fares to make people go for alternative methods of transport". You know, like cars and such. Which kind of defeats the purpose of public transport.

Anyway, not much we can do except moan, I guess!

poppy10_2

Why are train fares rising at all when train companies are making massive profits? £176m for Stagecoach, £117m for Firstgroup, £121m for Arriva. They are creaming off massive profits from privatization, which was supposed to deliver better services and lower fares through competition.

glider3560

As someone who follows the railways quite closer (and involved in some passengers groups), I'm amazed how late this change has been announced. The "fares manual" was due to be released to ticket retailers on Monday, but now all the fares will have to be recalculated. This isn't as simple as taking 2% off each fare as the basket method has been used this time which means every fare must be amended then cross-checked against every other fare offered in the same basket.

Who will end up paying for the fares to be recalculated?