Rail firm freezes 43% of its fares for 2014 including more than half of its journeys from London
- Government-run East Coast said freeze was 'commercial decision'
- 64% of booked in advance journey fares will also be frozen
- Government took over running of line between London and North East and Edinburgh after National Express decided it cost too much to run
A rail firm has become the first
to announce a freeze on 43 per cent of its fares for 2014 - including
more than half of journeys to and from London.
But
Government-run East Coast, which runs to the North East and Edinburgh,
said regulated fares, which include season tickets, will rise by 3.1 per
cent.
A spokesman said:
‘Fares on 43 per cent of all journeys will be frozen next month, with
fares on tickets booked in advance frozen for 64 per cent of all
journeys.’
This is in sharp contrast to the
oft-quoted ‘real terms freeze’ in which fares go up only by the rate of
inflation - which still means ticket prices rise.
The company said there would be some increase below or up
to the rate of inflation on 51 per cent of fares. And 6 per cent of
tickets would see an above inflation rise, it said.
The line was taken over by the
Department for Transport in 2009 after franchise holder National Express
decided it cost too much to run.
East Coast managing director Karen Boswell said: ‘We’re freezing fares to encourage more people to travel with us. This will help us to continue to grow our business, and to give back even more to the taxpayer.
‘This is a straightforward commercial decision which is very good
news for our customers and businesses across our route. It will also
help East Coast to sustain our strong advantage in a highly-competitive
travel market.
'When you take into account the rate of
inflation, the announcement represents a genuine real terms cut in
our overall fares.
'We believe this will attract more people to our
trains, and help to maximise revenue. It will also help businesses and
hard-working people by holding down the cost of travel for many.‘
East
Coast operates services from London up the east side of England to
Scotland, with about 60 per cent of services starting or finishing at
London’s King’s Cross station.
Overall average rise for all East Coast fares from January 2 will be 1.21 per cent.
Unregulated
fares - which include off-peak fares and advanced-purchased tickets for
leisure travellers - will go up by an average of 0.83 per cent.
But regulated fares, which
include season tickets, are rising by the recently-agreed 3.1 per cent
average which is in line with the July 2013 RPI inflation rate on which
the January 2014 national rises are based.
This
follows the announcement in Chancellor George Osborne’s recent Autumn
statement that January 2014’s rail fare rise for regulated fares - which
include season tickets - would be capped and limited to the retail or
RPI rate of inflation rather than ‘RPI plus 1per cent’.
The
rises will now be based solely on the inflation-rate rate in July 2013,
which means that the average rise in January 2014 will be 3.1 per cent
rather than the expected 4.1 per cent.
However,
train operators still have flexibility to increase fares by a further 2
percentage points to 5.1 per cent, - provided other fares fall to
compensate and keep the overall average at 3.1 per cent.
Mr
Osborne said his decision would benefit more than 250,000 annual season
ticket holders who will, on average in 2014, save £25.
Passenger
Focus executive Mike Hewitson said: ‘Hard-pressed passengers will
welcome East Coast’s decision to freeze nearly half of all its fares,
including more than half of those to or from London.’
And
TSSA transport union leader Manuel Cortes said other rail companies who
have made ‘massive profits down the years from ripping off passengers’
should follow suit.
He added: ‘We would like to see all fares frozen because they have more than doubled since privatisation 20 years ago.’
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Roger Kaye has been out and about with his cameras (movie and still), and has provided a selection of modern traction from around the East Midlands. The selection of images can be viewed here
