RAIL ticket prices will soar by up to 10% next January, in price hikes described by the RMT railworkers union yesterday as ‘the great rail fares robbery’.
There were demonstrations of furious commuters and TUC trade unionists outside at least 50 railway stations yesterday, where they condemned the fare rises and demanded the renationalisation of the railways.
‘Generous contractual terms have been offered to train operators by a government determined to keep the railways in private hands,’ the RMT stated.
‘This, coupled with lax regulatory oversight, means that when a train operator secures a rail franchise, they have won a license to print money.’
Next January’s automatic price rises, which are linked to yesterday’s RPI inflation figures.
RMT General Secretary Bob Crow said: ‘This latest inflation-busting hike in fares is a kick in the teeth for the British people who are condemned for another year to pay the highest prices in Europe to travel on clapped-out, overcrowded and unreliable trains while the private operators are laughing all the way to the bank.
‘Although the average figure is set at 4.1% the train operators will be able to get away with ramping up fares by nearly 9.2% on some services.
‘That is simply pure extortion in the name of private profit.
‘Anyone who thinks that this massive fares surcharge will be invested in our railways needs their head examined.
‘This cash windfall will be siphoned straight into the pockets of the private train companies without touching the sides while they continue to bulldoze through cuts to staffing and safety.
‘The stone cold case for public ownership of our railways to end this racketeering is now overwhelming.’
Mick Whelan, General Secretary of the ASLEF train drivers union, said: ‘ASLEF condemns soaring fares for passengers – just one of the increased costs of privatisation we are all suffering – which is driving more and more people into transport poverty.
‘The increased costs of travel, and the inability of some people now to afford to travel, contrasts very sharply with the increased profits made by the privatised train operating companies, and the money they are taking out of Britain’s railways, which should, of course, be a public service in the public sector.’
Len McCluskey, Unite general secretary, said: ‘Ordinary people are being engulfed by a cost of living crisis as yet again Cameron and Osborne sanction wage busting fare increases.
‘The government is woefully out of touch with the struggles of working people who face being priced off the railway and out of the jobs market, thanks to the “rail rip-off”.
‘As the pound in people’s pockets shrinks, more and more of their wages are lining the pockets of the private shareholders of rail companies, while taxpayers subsidise rail privatisation to the tune of £1.2 billion a year.
‘The “rail rip off” cannot continue, the government needs to cap rail fares and bring the industry back into public ownership.’
The TUC’s Action for Rail campaign held demonstrations at up to 50 stations yesterday – including London King’s Cross, Birmingham New Street and Manchester Piccadilly – to protest against the increase.
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said the government should ‘put evidence before ideology and look at renationalising the railways’.
‘There is a depth of anger out there,’ said Richard Hebditch, from the Campaign for Better Transport.
‘You don’t think of commuters as being necessarily the most likely to take action, but I think it’s really starting to eat into people’s incomes.’
