Express & Star

West Midlands rail fares rise by a third in seven years

Rail fares across the West Midlands have risen by nearly a third since 2010, according to figures released today.

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Commuters across the region have been hit with price increases of up to £840 for their annual season tickets, with fares rising three times faster than wages.

And Virgin Train's Birmingham to London route has seen the fifth highest rise of any in the country over the period, going from £8,028 to £10,200, a spike of £2,172 (27 per cent).

The figures have been described as 'staggering' by Labour's shadow transport secretary and prompted claims that passengers are being priced out of using the railways.

From today rail fares in the UK have gone up by an average of 2.3 per cent on last year.

But since 2010 West Midlands commuters have seen the price of their season tickets go up by an average of 29 per cent.

The biggest increase across the region is on the route from Sandwell's Tame Bridge Parkway station to Nuneaton, which has seen an increase of £840 to £2,788 (43 per cent).

Wolverhampton to Stoke-on-Trent has increased by £596 to £2,540 (31 per cent), while Walsall to Burton-on-Trent has gone up by £648 to £2,768 (31 per cent).

Across the country the average commuter is now paying £2,788 for their season ticket, £594 more than in 2010.

Labour's Warley MP John Spellar said: "People want to use the railways because the traffic is so bad on the roads, but the ticket prices are simply too high.

"Wages have not risen anywhere near as fast, but I am not sure that the Government either knows or cares.

"It is all well and good spending tens of millions on high speed rail (HS2).

"The majority of my constituents are more concerned about getting to work locally, rather than going down to London."

Season ticket prices are still regulated by the Government, which has pledged the biggest investment in improvements to the railways since Victorian times.

The Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators and Network Rail, says that around 97p in every pound that passengers pay goes back into running and improving services.

Andy McDonald, Labour's shadow transport secretary, said: "Passengers were always told that higher fares were necessary to fund investment, but vital projects have been delayed by years and essential maintenance works have been put on hold.

"The truth is that our heavily fragmented railways mean that it takes years longer and costs much than it should to deliver basic improvements.

"The railways need reforms that could be implemented if public ownership was extended to passenger services, but ministers are persisting with a failed model for purely ideological reasons."

This year's fares rise covers both regulated fares, which includes season tickets, and unregulated fares, such as off-peak leisure tickets.

However, some unregulated fares are likely to rise by considerably more than the average hike of 2.3 per cent.

Anthony Smith, the chief executive of the official rail watchdog, Transport Focus, said passengers would find the latest rise 'bitter because performance has been so patchy'.

He added: "Passengers will now want to see the industry's investment deliver a more reliable day-to-day railway," he added.

"The government should consider setting rail fare rises around the Consumer Prices Index instead to bring rail fares into line with other recognised measures of inflation."

Around 70 per cent of the cost of running rail services is met with revenue from ticket sales.

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