RAIL passengers face huge rises in fares in the new year because of the current high level of inflation, it was revealed yesterday.
Train companies base their annual increases for regulated fares, which includes annual season tickets, on the retail price index (RPI) for July plus 1 per cent.
Next month's RPI is likely to be about 4.5 per cent, which will mean thousands of rail
passengers facing 5.5 per cent annual increases in January 2009 – adding hundreds of pounds to the price of an annual season ticket.
Although no official figures have been decided, it is thought some fares could rise by even more.
Theresa Villiers, the shadow transport secretary, warned yesterday: "All the signs are that the July inflation figures will mean more rail-fare misery for commuters."
Gerry Doherty, the general secretary of the TSSA transport union, said: "It is a scandal that the rail companies have this trigger which allows them to put up fares every year."
About 40 per cent of rail fares are regulated and fall into the RPI plus 1 per cent regime, with train companies limited as to how much they can raise prices annually.
Anthony Smith, the chief executive of rail customer watchdog body Passenger Focus, said: "We strongly support the principle of regulated fares, but what we are worried about is that rail companies need only bring out fares that average RPI plus 1 per cent.
"This means that passengers can sometimes face a 10 per cent hike in a fare that is supposed to be regulated. We want the government to sort this out."
A concerned Mr Smith went on: "It looks as if passengers will have to dig deep into their pockets to pay for the new fares in the new year."
Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrats' transport spokesman, said: "Passengers are repeatedly being asked to cough up for above-inflation fare increases at a time when they need to be encouraged to use the railways and not the roads.
"With more train operators having to pay a premium to the government to get a franchise, it seems that the government is introducing a railway stealth tax. Gordon Brown likes to talk green, but this is another example of the environment being put to one side when it is inconvenient.
"Once again, the environmentally-friendly option is becoming the expensive option.
"The government used to have a fuel duty escalator for motorists and now it has a fare escalator for rail passengers. It needs to come off this escalator immediately."
The full article contains 438 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
