January fare rises

[whole diary]

[Zoe]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7741162.stm

Season tickets up by average 6%, off-peak 7%, CrossCountry have an increase of 11% for unregulated fares.

[Timmer]

Bath Chronicle report on today's announcement focusing on train companies that serve the West Country:
http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/travelandtransport/Rail-fares-rise/article-493978-detail/article.html

[Ollie]

I'm actually quite surprised that FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s rise is only around 6.7 or so %

Was expecting it to be higher due to not having a fare increase since last Jan compared to other TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)'s

CrossCountry don't surprise me at all really.

[Chris from Nailsea]

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) News video report, featuring Southampton, Reading and Salisbury as examples, and quote from Christopher Irwin of TravelWatch SouthWest: see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7743036.stm

[Timmer]

CrossCountry don't surprise me at all really.

It was expected that XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) would be putting up fares by quite a bit but 11% is pretty high bearing in mind the standard of service is not always as it should be. But to be fair to XC this is because of decisions made by the previous franchise holders and the SRA^» (Strategic Rail Authority - about).

They keep on putting fares up at that rate it will soon be cheaper to go via London.

[Zoe]

They keep on putting fares up at that rate it will soon be cheaper to go via London.

That's only useful for ECML^▸ (East Coast Main Line) destinations though as via London from the West is not a valid route for WCML^▸ (West Coast Main Line) destinations.

[Timmer]

That's only useful for ECML^▸ (East Coast Main Line) destinations though as via London from the West is not a valid route for WCML^▸ (West Coast Main Line) destinations.

They can be if you buy two separate tickets and with some of the new lowered Advance fares being offered by Virgin you can get an absolute bargain. Of course going via London is only an option if you are not in a hurry as it does take longer but the standard of service offered is better.

[Ollie]

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) News video report, featuring Southampton, Reading and Salisbury as examples, and quote from Christopher Irwin of TravelWatch SouthWest: see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7743036.stm

Quite like that the only TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) Spokesperson they had was from FGW^▸ (First Great Western) even though really it should be XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) justifying there 11%

[Zoe]

the standard of service offered is better.

Yes but on the WCML^▸ (West Coast Main Line) you have 390s with small windows and like the Voyagers they can be very crowded but at least you get full size windows on the Voyagers.  You do at least get a fixed buffet if you go via London though.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers):

Britain's biggest rail union RMT called on the government today to intervene to prevent private rail operators hitting passengers with huge fare rises in the new year with some tickets going up by more than double the rate of inflation.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that the privateers and their shareholders were forcing commuters to pay the price of the recession.  ^The train operating companies are effectively insulating themselves against an economic downturn while the government wants to reduce rail subsidy by 40 per cent between 2007 and 2014.  This will only price people off the railway and force them back into their cars and does nothing to meet government targets to tackle climate change.  This once again highlights the failure of rail privatisation and the need to take the entire network back into public ownership,^ he said.

See http://www.rmt.org.uk/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=114712