Great Train Fare Robbery

The two and a half desperadoes

Today Tuesday 22nd November Transport Together supporters across the country spread the word about the campaign for affordable fares with protests and leaflet drops at mainline stations. This January will see rail fares rise by an average of 8% and some as high as 13% - That's daylight robbery for most passengers as season tickets rise by hundreds of pounds more each year and walk up fares reach eye watering levels. We need affordable fares, not day light robbery. Worse of all this Government sanctioned stealth tax is set to continue for the next four years - a wallet busting price hike!



Tens of thousands of Wild West- style "wanted" posters featuring David Cameron, George Osborne and Nick Clegg, were today handed out at mainline stations across London. Given to peak time commuters arriving at Victoria, Waterloo, Euston, King's Cross and Liverpool Street stations, they launched the start of an intensified campaign against January's fare increases.

Commuter fares will rise by an average of eight per cent - though many increases on busy routes serving the capital will be in double figures, adding hundreds of pounds to the cost of season tickets. The rail companies, who make millions of pounds' profit, have been given permission to increase fares by three per cent above RPI - currently running at five per cent - for each of the next three years. It could add up to 25 per cent to peak-time fares.



The posters were produced by the TSSA transport union and backed by pressure groups including the Campaign for Better Transport. TSSA leader Manuel Cortes said: "It is simply outrageous that passengers who rely on rail to get to work should be held to ransom every year by ministers. "Here we are in the worst recession in living memory and passengers are expected to find huge sums of money when their pay is being frozen or hardly rising at all."

Adding to the pressure this letter appeared in today’s Guardian Newspaper supporting the campaign.

Fares in London just keep going up (Report, 18 November). Instead of debating how much they should go up, let's prove things can be different by cutting them. Since 2008, thanks to the Tory mayor of London, a single bus fare has risen by 56%. A zone 1-6 Travelcard is up 22%. But every year the mayor raises far more money from Londoners' fares than his own budgets say he needs. In the last year alone, the unplanned operating surplus was £728m. The mayor should be putting that money back into people's pockets. With VAT, inflation, student fees and unemployment all up, ordinary people are feeling the pinch. London already has the highest cost of living in Britain. Fairer fares would relieve some of the pressure on Londoners and put money back into the economy. Ken Livingstone is proposing a 5% cut in fares to be introduced in autumn 2012. We back a fares cut for Londoners and call for a halt to endless above-inflation rises.

Jarvis Cocker, Benjamin Zephaniah, Len McCluskey General secretary, Unite the Union, Billy Hayes General secretary, CWU, Owen Jones, Zoe Williams



At a time when economic activity has slumped and the economy is flat lining these inflation busting increases on public transport are a tax on jobs and education. Many people are being forced to change jobs because they can’t afford the train fares. At a time of economic hardship public transport should be part of the plan to help people find work not a stealth tax hitting people already hurting. If you agree that trains shouldn't just be a luxury for the rich and that they should be affordable for all; then get involved to help stop this Great Train Fares Robbery.

Here is the campaign website;

http://togetherfortransport.org/fares