'Hidden increases' as train fares rise

Mon Nov 16 2009 14:47:43

Train company chiefs have been accused of "masking" the full extent of the annual rail fares' increase which will see passengers paying an average of 1.1 per cent more for their tickets in January.

Passenger groups and rail unions said train companies were "spinning the figures" with the TSSA union saying that some advance purchase tickets would rise by 15 per cent in the new year.

There was particular anger at the fact that the Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc) had chosen not to announce how much unregulated fares, which include cheap day returns, were rising.

Meanwhile, with regulated fares, which include season tickets, going down 0.4 per cent in January due to an RPI inflation-linking formula, Atoc was able to highlight the fact that the overall rail-fare increase was the lowest annual rise since rail privatisation in the mid-1990s.

While welcoming the freeze, or fall, on some fares, Anthony Smith, chief executive of rail customer watchdog Passenger Focus, said: "We call upon the industry to be clear about which fares are going up and to publish average increases for unregulated fares for each train operating company."

Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT transport union, said the train companies were coming out with "spin and gloss" and that there would be some "massive fare hikes" on some lines in January.

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