A video report, from the
Telegraph:
Blame government for rail fare rises, says First Great Western
First Great Western spokesman Dan Panes tells ITV's Daybreak the government's above-inflation formula is to blame for the hike in rail fare prices.
Mr Panes commented as the latest round of inflation-busting fare rises took effect, raising the average cost of a season ticket by 4.2 per cent compared with last year.
Some rail passengers will face bigger rises approaching six per cent because of the Government decision to allow train operators to push up the cost on some routes by more, as long as other tickets increase by less than the average.
Some travellers have seen the cost of their season tickets rise by an average of ^1,300 over the past 10 years, with some fares increasing by nearly 90 per cent amid claims it was a "tax on work".
Mr Panes said the government's ticket pricing formula was to blame for shifting the burden of funding the railways onto passengers.
"While rail fare payers are paying more, taxpayers are paying less towards the cost of travel," he said.
And another video report, from
ITV Wales:
First Great Western: Passengers paying more, taxpayers less
Dan Panes, a spokesman for First Great Western, which runs mainline trains from London Paddington to South Wales, says these fare rises are based on the formula set by government, and aims to ensure 'rail fare passengers are paying more for their journeys and taxpayers are paying less.'
Around half of fares are linked to the inflation rate, measured by the retail price index (RPI▸ ). These are known as regulated tickets and include most season tickets. Regulated fares have gone up by 4.2% today - overall average fares are up 3.9%.
A busy man is Dan.
Click on the map to explore geographics
