Tory MPs hit back over rail fare hike
The government has come under fire from Tory MPs for hiking train fares amid a growing dispute over the measure used to determine price rises.
Transport secretary Chris Grayling said tonight the government will “freeze regulated fares in line with inflation” for the sixth year running, a move that will potentially add hundreds of pounds to the cost of many season tickets.
July’s retail price index (RPI) will be confirmed tomorrow, and is widely expected to come in at 3.5 per cent. This is the figure to which train fare increases are usually tethered.
However, the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) most recently forecast inflation of 2.3 per cent for the first quarter of 2019.
The debate comes on the back of months of misery for rail commuters suffering widespread disruption after timetable changes led to weeks of train cancellations, delays and overcrowding.
In a letter to unions Grayling indicated that the government may switch the measure to the consumer price index (CPI) in future, although not in time for 2019 fare hikes.
Grayling said he had asked the rail industry and unions “for their help to reduce cost pressures in the industry”. “Together, we can help passengers without asking all taxpayers to pay for it,” he added.
Former defence secretary and Sevenoaks MP Michael Fallon told City PM: “Next year of all years commuters need a break. We’ve had endless cancellations, short trains and locked toilets. Southeastern and Thameslink don’t deserve any increase, let alone 3.5 per cent. Chris Grayling should postpone any increase until these companies are operating a proper service and a full timetable.”
Conservative MP for Hitchin and Harpenden Bim Afolami, who has been among those to criticise the handling of this summer’s chaos, said: “People have suffered significantly over the past few months. What the government needs to do is limit any increases to the bare minimum, to reflect the difficulty that people have gone through.
“That is not to say there should be no fare rise at all, but bare minimum needs to be the watchword.”
Bromley and Chislehurst MP Bob Neill added: “It seems to be wrong to impose those increases on those franchises who have clearly failed customers.”
Neill, who chairs the justice committee, warned that without action it would “undermine the idea of privatisation – the people who take the profit should also take the loss”.
Another senior backbencher said it was “a massive issue for commuters and a massive issue for MPs”.
“Chris Grayling [transport secretary] is seen as a poor minister and this is a bread and butter issue… that cuts through marginal seats which we either want to win or hold,” the backbencher added.
The government has been criticised by those in opposition, with shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald blasting Grayling’s handling of the rail system as “beyond a joke”.
London mayor Sadiq Khan said: “A further hike in rail fares would be a slap in the face for commuters. It is time the government stood up to these underperforming private rail companies – if I can take action by freezing TfL fares while providing a better service, so should they.”
But Paul Plummer, chief exec of the Rail Delivery Group, stressed that any increase would be “underpinning a once-in-a-generation investment plan” to improve the network.
The Taxpayers’ Alliance said: “It would be wrong to announce any kind of rail fares freeze, as it would hurt both rail users as well as all taxpayers who subsidise rail in the UK, whether or not they use trains. Taxpayers would be subsidising wealthier rail users to the tune of more than £1bn over a parliament if fares were frozen.”