Tom espine
BBC Business Reporter
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The regulated rail prices increased in England and Wales by 4.6% and the price of most rail cards increased by £ 5.
The government claims that the prices must increase so that it can invest in the rail system, but the transport secretary Heidi Alexander acknowledged that the passengers were “frustrated” by delays and cancellations.
Although the government plans to renovate three rail operators this year, this should not lower ticket prices.
The campaign for Better Transport indicated that the last increase “stains even misery on pressed households” and called for lower prices.
The increase in rail prices for regulated tickets includes most subscriptions covering suburban routes in England, which can cost thousands of books.
Certain output yields on long -distance travel and flexible tickets to travel in and around cities will also increase.
Train operators set their own prices for unregulated prices, but these tend to increase in a similar amount to regulated prices, including on the lines that have already been reserved.
About 45% of trains in trains are regulated in England, Wales and Scotland, but the increase of 4.6% is linked to trips to England and Wales only.
In Scotland, rail tariffs should increase by 3.8% in April.
In Northern Ireland, the Nationalized Translink Service said that no decision had yet been made by the Ministry of Infrastructure on the question of whether the rail tariffs would increase in 2025.
The cost of most railway cards has also increased by around £ 5, compared to around £ 30, but disabled train cards remain the same price.
‘Chatryly dear’
Adrian Rose
Adrian Rose of Sittingbourne in Kent says that the cost of certain rail prices is “prohibitive”
Adrian Rose, 50, sittingbourne in Kent, says that hiking rail prices when they are already “very expensive” is not justifiable.
For him, he and his wife and his two daughters to drive from Kent to see parents in Newcastle do not exceed £ 100 of fuel for the family, while taking it by train can cost more than £ 400 if the reservation near the date of departure.
“The cost is prohibitive,” he said.
“I would gladly take the train, but for more than four times the cost? I could have a week’s vacation for this money.”
But Celia Downie, who regularly uses the train for work and leisure, says that she will continue to do it “as well as it costs”, because “I can work on the train and I think it’s environmentally friendly to do it”.
But the 68 -year -old man of Bristol, who has a senior railway card, also believes that prices are too high for families and says that sometimes the experience of cramped cars is “absolutely terrible”.
‘Not adapted to purposes’
Heidi Alexander said that she understood the frustration of passengers that prices continue to increase “despite unacceptable levels of delays and cancellations”.
However, she said it was the lowest absolute increase in prices for three years.
But the campaign for Better Transport said that pricing increases would add to household pressure, in addition to higher food and energy costs.
Michael Solomon Williams, head of the group campaigns, said that high ticket prices were “the first obstacle to obtaining more people traveling in rail” and called on the government to lower prices in the context of rail reforms.
“The majority of the public is favorable to a public railway, but this support almost disappears if the prices should continue to increase,” he said.
The campaign group said that on 40 suburban roads in London, annual season tickets for three will exceed £ 6,000 for the first time, with 10 other people already there.
Annual season tickets from Canterbury and Southampton in London will increase by £ 300 to £ 7,100 and £ 7,477 respectively.
The government plans to renovate rail companies while operators’ contracts end or reach a break.
Last year, he said that South Western Railway would be reunification in May 2025, C2C in July 2025 and a large Anglia in the fall of 2025.
It sets up a new body of arms length, Great British Railways (GBR), to take care of the service contracts currently held by private companies at the end of the coming years.
