Suggestions that commuters should pay even higher fares for peak journeys have been rejected by the Parliamentary Transport Committee. A ‘super peak fare’ would, it has been suggested, deter more people from travelling at peak times – reducing overcrowding on trains. Presumably such a price hike would also see rail firms making more profits.
The FareFail campaign is one of the most vocal movements against rail increases, and has welcomed the committee’s reaction to the 2011 McNulty Study.
The Committee called a super peak fare “a tax on commuters who have no effective choice over how or when they travel”.
Plans to implement rail increases at 3% above RPI (retail prices index) have recently been modified to 1% above RPI, which has been welcomed by many. Others, though, say that above inflation increases are still putting immense pressure on lower paid workers who need to use public transport.
The alternative?
With season tickets costing thousands, it’s easy to see why some people still look to the car or the motorcycle to get to work. For example, it costs £3,112 for a yearly train ticket from Sevenoaks to Waterloo. But using a Honda NC700X motorcycle (78mpg) for the same journey would cost just £1.40 a day for the entire 27 mile journey.
With vehicles such as the Volkswagen BlueMotion offering comparable mpg rates, the car may also offer much more affordable options than the train, especially if cheap parking can be found at the destination.
While initial outlays for vehicles and insurance may be high, over time such modes of transport would be cost-effective. As many of our vehicle recovery customers will be aware, rising train fares are only going to make using motorcycles or cars more attractive.
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