Happy New Year: Rail fares hiked from today

City A.M. Tuesday, 2 January 2018 ()
Happy New Year: Rail fares hiked from todayCommuters are being welcomed back to work after the festive period with an average rail fare rise of 3.4 per cent, which comes into effect today.

And a new study from the Trades Union Congress said UK commuters spend up to five times as much of their salary on rail fares as other Europeans.

Protests are set for around 40 railway stations around the country by the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, which said it will be handing out chocolates to passengers to try and sweeten "the bitter pill of the fare rises".

Fare increases to regulated fares come from the previous July's retail prices index (RPI) measure of inflation.

*Read more*: Backlash begins over next year's 3.6 per cent rail fare rise

The TUC said fares were set to rise a third faster than wages this year, and that British commuters will be spending far more of their salaries on season tickets than other Europeans.

As an example, it said someone on an average salary travelling from Chelmsford to London will have to spend 13 per cent of their pay for season tickets, while comparable commutes would result in spending two per cent of the average salary in France, three per cent in Italy and four per cent in Germany.

*How UK commuters' spend on season tickets compares with comparable routes across Europe:*

Country From To Monthly season ticket cost Percentage of average earnings
UK Chelmsford London £381 13 per cent
France Etampes Paris £66 Two per cent
Italy Civita Castellana Rome £65 Three per cent
Germany Eberswalde Berlin £118 Four per cent
Belgium Gent Brussels £144 Five per cent
Spain Arenys de Mar Barcelona £108 Five per cent

“Employers can help out by offering zero-interest season ticket loans, or offering more flexible work hours and locations," said the TUC's general secretary Frances O'Grady.

Paul Plummer, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, representing train operators and Network Rail, said of the incoming fare changes: 



On average, fares will rise by less than inflation this year. For every pound paid in fares, 97p goes directly back to operating and improving services and, with more people travelling, that means more money for investment by the private and public partnership railway to build the better network Britain needs.



*Read more*: RMT to protest against rail fare hikes - by giving commuters chocolates
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