Rail fare rise will ‘force commuters into cars’
Rail commuters are switching to the roads to beat "impossible" rises in season ticket fares, passenger groups warn.
A six per cent rise in regulated fares in January is expected to be followed by three successive years of increases at three per cent above inflation.
Commuters travelling from 25 of the busiest stations outside Greater London face paying between £576 and £1,209 a year more by 2014, according to research by the Standard. But Felipe Alviar-Baquero, chairman of the Malling and District Rail Travellers Association, said many rail users were unable to let "the train take the strain".
He said: "It is already very difficult for people not earning top salaries. If you are earning £40,000 and having to pay £3,000 a year that is 10 per cent of your income after tax. For that you are getting fewer services and you are probably not getting a seat. The view that more and more people are taking is that it is impossible to commute."
The City lawyer said he abandoned his season ticket from West Malling in Kent to London Bridge — which cost more than £3,000 a year — and drives to New Eltham in south London from where an annual ticket costs £1,000.
He said: "It takes me about 25 minutes to drive to New Eltham on the M20. You can tell lots of people are doing it because services from local stations have been cancelled and prices are going up. The motorway and the A2 are clogged now and didn't used to be."
Eric Anstee, chairman of the Haslemere Rail Users Group, said he expected a major switch to cars once the Hindhead Tunnel on the A3 was completed next year. He said: "I think it will have a significant impact on South West Trains."
The fare rises were announced by George Osborne in last month's comprehensive spending review. Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said the extra money to be raised by the fare increases has allowed projects such as Crossrail to go ahead.
Rail minister Theresa Villiers said: "The scale of the deficit means that we have had to make tough decisions on rail fares."
