Rail passengers have labelled the announcement of fare rises “an absolute joke” after a week of chaos across London’s transport network.
Train fares will increase by an average of 2.3 per cent from January 2 next year, the rail industry has announced.
It comes after Network Rail revealed that train passengers face a "crescendo” of maintenance work over the festive season which could cause major problems at London stations.
Will Perry, 38, who commutes from Lewes and pays £4,108 a year for his season ticket, said: “You get compensated when there isn’t service, but the compensation isn’t enough. The fares were already high, and increasing the prices at a time when the service just isn’t working isn’t right.
The civil servant added: “It’s an awful lot of money, it’s a significant chunk of my monthly pay, but it’s the trade-off you make for living further out.”
Marketing executive Katrina Gausden, 33, also pays £4,108 for her season ticket from Preston Park. She said: “They don’t care. That’s the reality. And it’s people doing it to people – it’s not very nice. Just look at the departure board… all the trains are delayed. But it is what it is.”
The fare rise will apply to season tickets but unregulated fares, such as off-peak tickets, can go up by as much as train companies choose.
Kieron Quinn, 48, a project manager who commutes from Eastbourne and pays £650 a month for his season ticket, complained that it was anything but “value for money” and “an absolute joke”.
He commented: “If you get [transport secretary] Chris Grayling, [RMT general secretary] Mick Cash, and [Southern Rail boss] Charles Horton down here, stick them in a glass box down at the front, withdraw food and make them slop out for a week, that will focus them to sort out this absolute mess.”
Another commuter who spends up to £3,000 a year on rail fares commuting form Brighton, Maggie Ibrahim, said: “It’s not especially fair to raise prices, because it’s not a very good service to begin with.”
Read More
The 39-year-old added: “If they gave a reason for the increased fares, that would help – more services, more carriages, but there probably won’t be.”
