British government to enforce big rises in rail fares

British government to enforce big rises in rail fares

The British government says it will stick to plans to increase rail fares by as much as eight per cent for many commuters next year.

British Transport Minister, Theresa Villiers said this on Tuesday.

Retail Price Inflation

The government said that the big increases were caused by a pricing formula which allowed fares for season tickets to rise by retail price inflation (RPI) plus three per cent.

The August RPI figure, used as the base, is expected to come in around five per cent when it is published later on Tuesday.

Villiers said the investment programme was probably the biggest since the Victorian era when the rail system was set up, but that the cost needed to be borne by passengers rather than general taxpayers.

"It will deliver around 2,700 new carriages. It's a major programme but at a time when we have to deal with the deficit, in order to fund that programme, I'm afraid that we do have to ask passengers to pay a little more for three years," she said.

Rail upgrades

"We'll be going ahead with these real terms increases in rail fares," Villiers told reporters.

She explained that the government considered the increase to enable it achieve its proposed rail upgrades and capacity improvements to deal with and relieve overcrowding.

REUTERS/Shakira/Williams