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Campaigners who protested against high fares at Bracknell train station
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Protest at Bracknell station after fares rise by 78 per cent in 10 years

By Becky Barnes
March 22, 2013

Bracknell commuters protested against higher than inflation train fares, which have soared in the last 10 years.

Members of the Fare Fail coalition gave out postcards earlier this month telling passengers an annual season ticket between Bracknell and London had risen by 78 per cent since 2003, and now stands at £3,960.

George Woods, community organiser of national campaign Fare Fail, said: “We wanted to bring to people’s attention the cost of travelling between Bracknell and London has risen faster than pretty much anywhere else.

“Only fares from Ashford International, Sevenoaks and Canterbury have risen faster across the country.”

Protesters, who commute from the town’s station, also wanted to inform people MP Dr Phillip Lee voted against a motion in Parliament opposing the fares rises on January 9.

The Labour Party put forward a House of Commons motion, which called on the Government ‘to ban train operators from increasing fares beyond strict limits and to rule out the proposed introduction of a new category of super peak ticket which would increase the burden on hard-pressed commuters’.

George said: “Train fares are too high and Dr Lee is wrong to have voted for them.

“We think it is a big squeeze on people’s living, especially when people are finding it hard to get by.

“We want people to know their MP is standing by and watching this happen.”

While at the station the group met college students who said fares were too high and it cost them £50 a month to get to college.

George added: “We want people in Bracknell to know there are other people who feel the same way as they do and who care.

“It can be a complete drain on a family budget – a lot of people don’t know the facts but just feel the fares creeping up.”

A spokeswoman for Dr Lee said he was unable to comment as he was abroad on parliamentary business with the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee.

To join the campaign for lower fares visit www.farefail.org.

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Most recent user comments 13 of 13

Train fares are simply too expensive and becoming out of the reach of average families. £17 for an off peak return to Waterloo and £24 for a normal return is too much and no wonder trains are almost empty most of the day (except commuting times). They seem to expect everyone to have a railcard these days but not all of us can justify the cost.

LarryS
27/03/2013 at 15:11

@Tonk - indeed. £1.19bn over 10 years. The idea is that the railway moves from a subsidised, to a self-sufficient (ie profit making) system over this period as previously the payment was the other way around. I believe the first few years from 2007 were subsidy based, and then the pendulum swung. I guess they are now paying the majority of this. In 2007, the whole deal was still predicted to make about £138m for Stagecoach.

But ticket prices are too high because there is little incentive in the system as a whole to reduce prices. Individual TOCs, like SWT, want to keep costs low, so they make profit, but they aren't the only costs in the system. The not-for-profit companies that own the trains charge rent for them, which is going to have to pay for the cost of the new trains eventually, so is high. Network Rail charge to run the trains on their lines, and to rent retail space on their platforms, and again, this is high. But these companies have no real reason to keep costs as low as possible in order to benefit the end-user, because their end-user is not the traveller. Plus, as the system is so complex, with multiple companies and multiple executives, it is fundamentally expensive to run.

The TOCs generally have a monopoly on the service on which they run. Monopolies cash in where they can - it's natural. And that's what they're doing.

Quite simply, fares are FAR too high. For years it has not been cheaper to take the train with more than one person, but now it is no longer even cheaper to take the train on your own. Booking in advance is not what train travel is about, but if you take the cheaper fares, you at least get a seat. Those paying the most, are much less likely to be able to sit down!

A far simpler railway, probably back in our nation's hands, really would be of benefit to the fare paying traveller.

mavdo, Wokingham
25/03/2013 at 08:46

Dodgy news - ahhh don't mention the toilets!!! Remembering the sight and smell of visiting the toilet on the trains is enough to put me off my food! Full to the brim!! Haha no more needs to be said ;-)

alex_f, Wokingham
24/03/2013 at 00:43

Well hi again Tonky ;)

Very interesting and there's probably a great deal of truth in that. It happens in a lot of other things (ever had dinner in a UK hotel in major cities? Is extortionate!)

alex_f, Wokingham
23/03/2013 at 19:18

Alex F.

You make a good point. I remember when I was young that railways offered a "worker's" return ticket if you travelled before about 07-30hrs: it may have been later, I can't remember as it was half a century ago!

I suspect the train companies see these commuters as some kind of captive client base because, as you rightly say, many people have little choice as to where and when they go to work.

I do wonder whether rail companies get away with it because, as I understand it, some corporate employers pay the ticket prices for their employees or give an interest free loan for the purchase of the ticket.

I was rather shocked to read somewhere that the train company that serves Reading to Waterloo, pays £1bn to the government in fees for the franchise: no wonder the fares are so high!

Regards

Tonky :-)

Tonk, Wokingham
22/03/2013 at 19:12

It really is just ridiculous. People who work in the creative / design / construction industries are often lucky to get jobs at £15k, and that's with a degree. Most of these for some reason seem to be in some of the more difficult parts of central London to get to - i.e. Knightsbridge, Old Street.

After tax/NI that's about £13k. As these offices aren't based outside Waterloo, it's a season ticket with travel card required.

Take home pay now down to less than £8.5k. Add any courses needed paying for / reading materials / suit or dresses, and you're on less than when you're on benefits.

Great incentive isn't it. Travel is regularly 1/3 of workers' take-home salaries. This is a really sad state of affairs.

That's without mentioning the stupid situation of charging more for peak times. As if we have a choice of when to get to work. It's just penalising those who have no choice (workers) and have to grin and bear it.

alex_f, Wokingham
22/03/2013 at 17:15

PR;

For your information, the biggest contributor to fare rises on buses was Labours decision to cut fuel duty relief to bus companies dispite them saying that they wanted people to use public transport.

The average bus, I am told, does about 14 MPG. Duty and VAT on fuel is about 80% so, if over night bus companies have to pay four or five times more for their fuel, is it any wonder the fares have shot up and of course, with fuel going up due to the global market and the devaluation of the GBP against the currencies that oil is traded in, these have all added to the pressure on fare prices and indeed everything else because, every thing at one level, relies of fuel and power during its manufacture or delivery processes.

Yes, perhaps OAP bus passes haven't helped but, we are not to blame for everything as some young people and some media outlets would have you all believe..

Tonk, Wokingham
22/03/2013 at 16:49

Good point Mavdo, although I'd rather walk than take a taxi!

Bruce Wayne
22/03/2013 at 16:06

The high bus fares are a side effect of the pensioners' free bus passes. Out of rush hour a major proportion of bus passengers are using their free passes. However the bus company can only recover a percentage of the actual fare for these journeys and needs to maintain high fares to be profitable.

PoneRana, Wokingham
22/03/2013 at 14:28

@Bruce - agreed, unless you're going to be drinking. If I go into Reading or London for a few jars, I'll be taking the train. Although the other day, I did get the bus to Reading, but I was surprised that it wasn't cheaper than the train.

mavdo, Wokingham
22/03/2013 at 13:59

Someone's got to say it.........

"Down with that sort of thing" ;-)

Frank Chicken
22/03/2013 at 13:58

Exactly Dodgynews, I feel for them too. The very few times I have been on any train over the last few years has always been an awful experience, and you're charged an obscene amount for it too! There is absolutely no reason to choose public transport over a car anymore, unless you don't have a driving license.

Bruce Wayne
22/03/2013 at 12:10

I am staggered that it costs virtually £4,000 for an annual ticket to travel from Bracknell to London. It should be a fraction of this. Using the country's rail network should be a cheaper and more effecient way of travelling than getting in the car - obviously driving a vehicle in and out of the capital each day would be far cheaper than this.

It's a complete and utter disgrace, and I can only sympthaise with the people that have to shell out this type of money. I haven't had a wage-rise in over FOUR YEARS, so how the rail networks can keep justifying these massive price hikes is beyond me. What's even sadder is that things could be done about this - the government certainly need to get a grip on the power that the transport unions have (drivers start on £30,000 after qualifying - that's about £6,000 more than a teacher! - comedy), these rates will continue to soar. The standard of service is so very poor too - on countless journeys I've endured, you can't even find a working toilet on one of these wretched trains.