Ticket price hikes have outstripped wage increases yet again, contributing to a levelling offin passenger numbers.
JANUARY saw the price of regulated train fares rise by 3.6%, which is determined by the rise in inflation as measured by the Retail Prices Index in July 2017. The increase compares with the calculation that average pay has risen by only 2.1% in the same period.
This is not the first year in which fare rises have outstripped wage rises as, over the past eight years, controlled fares (which include season tickets) have risen by 32%, while wages have increased by 16%.
The Government appears to have conceded that the ever-widening gap is unsustainable and that the more widely used Consumer Prices Index – which is judged to reflect the overall cost of living – could be used in the future. Using this figure, inflation was 2.6% in July 2017.
Even before the current increases, there was evidence that demand for rail travel is falling. Although the country’s economic growth is close to 2%, rail journeys fell slightly in the period from July to September last year – from 433 million to 429 million – but there was a 9.4% fall in the sale of season tickets, which are used by a third of all rail users. Advance fare purchases rose by 8.7%, but they continue to make up less than 5% of all tickets purchased.
This is a trend that should worry policymakers if it continues. Network enhancement plans are based on annual journey growth of 2.5% and if that disappears some very expensive projects will look to have been unnecessary.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der February 2018-Ausgabe von Rail Express.
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