Just two today, perhaps a reflection of Parliament not sitting today…
Increase in fares an insult to passengers
Responding to the announcement of an average of 3.1% more for rail tickets from 2 January, Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesperson Baroness Jenny Randerson said:
Millions of people right across the country are paying over the odds for rail tickets despite not getting the service they pay for. It is frankly an insult to passengers to increase fares yet again.
Conservative Ministers have been conspicuously absent on this announcement, no doubt because they are aware the many problems with the rail network are a result of their incompetence.
People deserve better, and the Liberal Democrats demand better. There should be an immediate freeze on fares until the Government publish their review and fix the state of our railways.
May searching for new Universities Minister as well as votes
Responding to reports that Sam Gyimah has resigned from his role as Universities and Science Minister over Theresa’s May’s “naive” handling of Brexit, Liberal Democrat Education spokesperson Layla Moran said:
The list of Tory rebels for May’s deal gets longer and longer and she is now searching for a new Universities Minister as well as votes.
This Government is falling apart and the decision must be taken back to the public. We know May cant win on the 11th, Sam Gyimah shows us that her deal can’t even convince those closest to her.
As Universities and Science Minister Sam Gyimah will have seen at close quarters the devastating effect this botched Brexit will have on these important sectors. He should be applauded for his actions today and for also not discounting a People’s Vote.
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2 Comments
An inappropriate time for such a major rise in rail fares, given the poor service in so many routes. I also notice that in terms of petrol it is far cheaper to use a car, especially for two or more people, often including parking fees.
However, I hear two other arguments.
The rail operating companies claim that most fare income is used to run the service and therefore enable other money to be used entirely for investment.
Comparisons with other countries apparently show that our basic fares are high, but the fares that most people pay by advance tickets for example, means that we pay less than in other countries.
So I am unsure what is the right way to go on this issue if we want to expand and improve rail use.
There was a terribly nice middle class woman on the radio planning a boycott of the new fares which are going up by 3.1%. Her fare was rising by a whole 20 pence ! Wow !
My town has not had a railway station for over 50 years and in recent years bus services have been slashed, the latest reduction resulting in the breaking of almost all the connections with the nearest station. However, we do still have to finance the subsidies which enable that lady to have a train she can use. Why should we ?