Anger as inflation bus-ting fare hikes take effect

The price of an adult single ticket on a National Express West Midlands bus jumped by 10p to £2.20.

And passengers on the disrupted Midland Metro tram, which is not running all the way into Wolverhampton due to delayed engineering work, face an increase in 10p for a single adult fare and 20p or 30p for a return, depending on how far they are going.

The most expensive return fare between Wolverhampton and Birmingham is now £6.

Weekly and monthly passes have also gone up with a four-week Metrocard now costing £65.50, up £2.

A £4.5million project to replace tracks and extend platforms in Wolverhampton which was due to finish before the end of the year has still not been completed.

The new year is typically the time when National Express, which runs the buses and the Metro, hikes the fares.

But Ian Jenkins, of the Campaign for Rail, said Metro passengers should be getting a discount.

He said: "They are not getting the full service they are paying for at the moment. If anything the fares should come down.

"As for the rail increases, the government has to decide whether it wants the passenger pay for the railways or whether, as we believe, there should be public investment."

This week's annual fare rise will mean some rail season ticket holders will have endured increases of more than 20 per cent since 2010, according to figures from the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT), compared with an average wage wise of 6.9 per cent over the same period.

John Spellar, MP for Warley and a former transport minister, said: "Yet again the travelling public are being hit with stonking above inflation increases while at the same time getting a worse service.

"Transport ministers need to get a grip."

Stafford-born transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: "We are investing in the biggest rail modernisation since the Victorian era and fares have a crucial role to play in funding these improvements. This is because building better infrastructure helps create jobs, building a stronger economy for us all.

"We recognise passengers' concerns about the cost of rail fares. This is why we have frozen them for the second year in a row. We are protecting passengers even further by stopping operating companies from increasing individual fares by up to two per cent more."

The bus fare rises are around five per cent.

A National Express West Midlands daysaver ticket goes up 20p to £4.20, while weekly travelcards will cost £16.50, up 50p.

Monthly travelcards will increase by £1.50 a month. Other increases include a child single fair, which has risen 5p to £1.10 and a child four-week travelcard, which has gone up 75p to £29.25.

However some fares have been frozen, including a family daysaver ticket.

Peter Coates, managing director for National Express West Midlands, said the changes will help fund a 'record amount' of investment in new buses and deliver better services.