Rail passengers will face further fare rises of up to 8% above inflation over each of the next two years, a government document has confirmed.
While a public outcry led George Osborne to cap this year's rise to 6%, the coalition intends to revert to its intended RPI plus 3% for 2013 and 2014, with some fares liable to rise by an extra 5%.
At current inflation rates, that means some train fares could cost almost one third more in two years than they did last month.
The policy is set out in the Department for Transport's invitation to tender for the west coast mainline franchise, the service currently run between stations in London and Glasgow by Virgin Trains.
Four bidders have been shortlisted to run the franchise from December 2012, when Virgin's present contract expires, including two owned by the French and Dutch national railways, Keolis/SNCF and Abellio, as well as First Group and Virgin.
The winning bidder, to be announced in August, will run the trains until 2026 – the year that the first stage of the HS2 high-speed rail line between Birmingham and London is scheduled to open.
The rail minister, Theresa Villiers, said the new framework would include stipulation for longer trains and more flexible services. The 31 existing Pendolino trains will be extended from nine to 11 carriages, adding nearly 50% more standard seats on each train. (AtW's comment: 2 extra standard carriages increase standard capacity of train by 50% - it follows currently only 4 carriages out of 9 are standard class, the rest - 5 are 1st class. It sure looks this way when boarding first offpeak train from London at 7pm - have to walk until end of train and 1st class is like half the train - usually empty!!! )
Source: Rail fares to rise up to 8% above inflation in next two years | Money | The Guardian
While a public outcry led George Osborne to cap this year's rise to 6%, the coalition intends to revert to its intended RPI plus 3% for 2013 and 2014, with some fares liable to rise by an extra 5%.
At current inflation rates, that means some train fares could cost almost one third more in two years than they did last month.
The policy is set out in the Department for Transport's invitation to tender for the west coast mainline franchise, the service currently run between stations in London and Glasgow by Virgin Trains.
Four bidders have been shortlisted to run the franchise from December 2012, when Virgin's present contract expires, including two owned by the French and Dutch national railways, Keolis/SNCF and Abellio, as well as First Group and Virgin.
The winning bidder, to be announced in August, will run the trains until 2026 – the year that the first stage of the HS2 high-speed rail line between Birmingham and London is scheduled to open.
The rail minister, Theresa Villiers, said the new framework would include stipulation for longer trains and more flexible services. The 31 existing Pendolino trains will be extended from nine to 11 carriages, adding nearly 50% more standard seats on each train. (AtW's comment: 2 extra standard carriages increase standard capacity of train by 50% - it follows currently only 4 carriages out of 9 are standard class, the rest - 5 are 1st class. It sure looks this way when boarding first offpeak train from London at 7pm - have to walk until end of train and 1st class is like half the train - usually empty!!! )
Source: Rail fares to rise up to 8% above inflation in next two years | Money | The Guardian
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