REVERSE FARE RISES AND RETURN RAILWAYS TO PUBLIC OWNERSHIP, URGES GREEN MP
- Ending privatisation could save taxpayers £1bn and reduce cost of travel by 18% (1)
- “Today’s system is ripping off passengers, harming the economy and failing the environment”
The UK’s railways should be brought back into public ownership to reduce costs, improve services and recreate a sense of national pride in our trains, said the UK’s Green MP today ahead of a parliamentary debate on rail fares.
The cost of rail travel in the UK has risen by 17% in real terms since privatisation and fares are now some of the highest in Europe, with the government facing criticism over the planned 6.2% increase (3% above inflation) from January 2013.
Labour will use today’s debate to call on the government to restore the 1% above inflation cap on annual fare rises for 2013 and 2014, and to ban train operators from increasing fares beyond that strict limit.
But Caroline Lucas MP is urging the government to go further and end the private ownership of the railways which has seen huge increases in the cost of travel and cost to the taxpayer – with little real improvement in services or efficiency.
Speaking ahead of the debate, the Brighton Pavilion MP said:
“Britain was once world famous for its trail blazing and hugely successful railways – but today’s privatised system is ripping off passengers, harming the economy and failing the environment.
“The controversy over Virgin Trains shows that what people want most of all is stability and value-for-money on the railways – not one unaccountable company snatching control from another with promises they may never deliver.
“The spiralling cost of rail travel is having a huge impact on passengers across the country – the latest above inflation fare increases being the final straw for many commuters in my constituency.
“And people are rightly furious that many trains continue to be overcrowded and unreliable, as well as overpriced – all at a time when we urgently need rail to play a role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transport and improving air quality.”
Lucas continued:
“Since privatisation in 1994, the cost of train travel has risen by 17% in real terms, compared to a 7% drop in the cost of motoring.
“And the system is failing the public purse too – thanks to higher interest payments to keep debts off the government balance sheet, and costs arising from fragmentation and the complex network of subcontractors, the cost to the taxpayers of running the railways has risen by 2 to 3 times since privatisation.
“So I am calling on the government to do the right thing. First, to urgently implement a U-turn on its disastrous policy of rail fare increases. And second, to reunite the railways under public ownership, returning them to their rightful place as a source of national pride.
“Bringing the railways back into public ownership could save over £1 billion a year of taxpayers’ money – an amount that, if spent in the right way, could reduce fares to around 18% lower than today.
“Unless it returns to public ownership, this country will struggle on with a disjointed, complex and often dysfunctional railway system that regularly makes commuting a miserable experience and that puts us to shame internationally.”
ENDS
Notes for Editors
1) Figures from the June 2012 report Rebuilding Rail, by the Transport for Quality of Life group.