No guarantee of improvements, despite fare rises - Maines
December 12, 2003 7:35 PM
Chris Maines has spoken out over inflation busting rail fare rises
Commenting on reports that rail passengers in the travelling on South Eastern Trains will face a 4.1% increase in fares in the New Year, Chris Maines, leader of the Liberal Democrats on Bromley Council said "Our rail travellers are being forced to pay today, for a promise of improvements tomorrow."
"Rail fares have been held down in the past because of poor service. Now
commuters are going to have to pay for bad management and years of
under-investment, with no guarantees of a better service."
Britain's railways are already the most expensive in Europe, with research
by the Liberal Democrats revealing that £10 will only take passengers 42
miles on the UK railway system.
Chris Maines said:
"A tenner goes further on most European railways. You can travel more than
three times as far in Spain, and over four times as far in Italy for the
same money. In the Czech Republic you can travel over 7 times as far on the
railway as you can in the UK. Yet with these fare rises the gap simply looks
like it will widen further still.
"The question that the Government and South Eastern Trains must answer is,
how many years will we see inflation-busting fare rises before our railways
are safe, reliable and affordable?"
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