Price increases of up to 50% have been seen as a rail company tactic to offset the expected fare revenue cuts enforced by new regulations starting in January, 2010.
Virgin alone has increased costs by 25-50% along their West Coast Line and First Great Western has increased charges by 30%.
These increases are disproportionate to the 0.4% cut in regulated fares which companies will have to make next year – Gerry Doherty, general secretary of the TSSA commented, “the rail companies are picking the pockets of millions of passengers simply because they can get away with it.”
Doherty said the only way to stop the rail companies from “ripping off their captive audience” would be to include car parking charges in the annual rail fares formula, putting a ceiling of 1% above inflation on price increases.
He called on the transport secretary, Lord Adonis, to implement this change.
Virgin claim price increases only apply where services have been improved; adding that they’re spending £90m to improve rail customer facilities, that off-peak charges are significantly cheaper and in areas where no improvements were planned the charge would be unchanged.
First Great Western also defended its ‘competitive’ car park costs, stressing that for the past three years the company had absorbed the maintenance costs but could not sustain this long term.
You can avoid having to pay station parking fees and the Congestion Charge by using the Tube and our text service to find free parking near tube stations outside the congestion zone. Simply text the word Parking plus the name of a tube station OUTSIDE THE CONGESTION ZONE to 80039 and you’ll receive a text back giving you three locations near the tube, or the one closest to it on the same line.
