Rail fair hike a 'kick in the teeth' for commuters (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

St Albans commuters braced for hike in rail ticket fares

10:00am Sunday 2nd January 2011 in News By Manisha Mistry

The hike in rail fares for 2011 were highlighted last week.

A “kick in the teeth” hike in the price of rail tickets set to hit hard-pressed commuters travelling in and out of St Albans this year were highlighted last week.

District councillor Martin Leach, who is against the rise, joined commuters on Friday morning to make them aware of the proposed changes.

Posing with giant tickets, Councillor Leach said it was unfair to yet again increase the costs of travelling into London when so many people had complained of a poor service.

The Tory-led Government in November announced the cost of an annual train ticket St Albans to London will go up by £276 a year.

Councillor Leach said: “The Tory-led Government is hitting local commuters really hard.

“They’ve reversed the Labour government’s decision to force train companies to apply price controls to fares individually.

“Now many local commuters will see their fares go up by 8.5 per cent this year. And this is set to continue year on year. We are looking at fare increases of nearly 40 per cent over the next four years.”

He added: “In opposition, the Tories said that an increase in rail fares of this amount would price people off the railways. And yet that is exactly what they’re doing.

“The Liberal Democrats promised to cut rail fares so that they rose by less than inflation, making this either yet another promise they knew couldn’t afford, or one more cave-in to their Conservative partners.

“What’s for sure is that this a real blow to St Albans commuters, just as they are facing the squeeze from wage freezes, a VAT rise and cuts to child benefit. It’s a real kick in the teeth for hardworking local families and individuals.”

One commuter, Stephen Macintyre, said his experience of the service had not been the best in the past few weeks.

He added: “I've only been working in London for about two months but it's been terrible especially in the last few weeks.

“I once read in The Economist that this was one of the most expensive commutes in Europe. So if it is going to be that then it should more of an efficient and reliable service than it does.”

In November First Capital Connect said it had tried to minimise ticket price increases.

Spokesman for the rail company Gareth Beazant said: “On most tickets, these are the first price rises for two years.

“We want to encourage continued growth in rail travel and we have set our prices accordingly.”

An annual season ticket between St Albans and London will rise by 5.7 per cent from £2,668 to £2,820, while the peak hour return will increase from £16 to £17 (6.2 per cent). Travelcards incorporating the London Underground are likely to rise faster as First Capital Connect passes on an increase imposed by Transport For London.

Fares such as off-peak tickets are unregulated, while commuters with season tickets are protected by a limit of inflation plus one per cent, to rise to inflation plus three per cent in January 2012.

Also from January 1, station car park charges will rise by 8.5 per cent, although anyone buying season tickets before then will avoid the increase.

What do you think about the increase? Tell us below.