Following
another round of inflation-busting fare rises the Kent Green Party is calling
for the public ownership of our railways. Party spokesperson, Councillor Ian
Driver, said “Fares will be increasing by an average of 4.3% in the new year and on
some routes even more, that’s much
greater than the pay rises received by most
working people in Kent.”“Figures show that whilst the average wage has increased by 15% since January 2008, rail fares have increased by an eye-watering 40% over the same period(1). A lot of this money is being siphoned off as profits and shareholder dividends by greedy privatised train operators, instead of being re-invested into improving our railway system and keeping down fare rises.This why our railways are amongst the most expensive in Europe”. “The Green Party believes that the costly and wasteful structure of our rail industry which was caused by its 1993 privatisation, should be replaced by a joined-up, more cost-efficient publically owned organisation(2)”.
Notes
(1)
|
Average Earnings (January)
|
Rail fares (January)
|
2008
|
3.8%
|
6.1%
|
2009
|
2.3%
|
7.6%
|
2010
|
1.1%
|
0.7%
|
2011
|
2.6%
|
6.0%
|
2012
|
1.3%
|
6.2%
|
2013
|
1.2%
|
3.9%
|
2014
|
2.4%
|
4.3%
|
15.6%
|
40.2%
|
(2) see Green Party Transport Policy http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/tr
(3) Transport for Quality of Life Rebuilding Rail June 2012 http://transportforqualityoflife.com/
But , the tax payer is paying less, the user is paying more...As a pensioner who does not use the railway, but pays tax... I think its going ok!!
ReplyDeleteThe problem with percentages is that they present a false picture. A 4.3% rise on a £4000 season ticket would be another £172, on a £5000 ticket, £215. An average earner on £26500 with a 2.4% pay increase would receive another £636 before tax. Thus the pay rise will outstrip the fare rise for the average commuter, and still leave some to spare. And I am sure that most commuters earn more than the national average.
ReplyDelete