It looks like Surbiton will be clobbered in a review of London rail fares.
Tom Harris, the rail minister, said the tariff changes brought "seamless travel" closer. "The new system is simple and sensible. It will make train fares in different parts of London consistent," he said.
Maybe so, but a cost - come the 2nd January, Surbiton fares will increase by over a third!
Look at the following Surbiton to Waterloo adult fares:
| Currently | 02/01/2007 | Increase | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peak Single | £3.60 | £4.80 | 33% |
| Peak Return | £6.80 | £9.20 | 35% |
| Cheap Day Return | £4.20 | £5.70 | 36% |
See http://www.gnn.gov.uk/ for full details.
Comments
It's getting close to Jan 2nd.
I take it that there's no chance that the rail companies won't be stopped from imposing this scandalous rise?
I don't know what muppets let them pretend that this change is cost neutral.
NOt a peep from the local MP since.
Local MP is on the job. See http://www.surreycomet.co.uk/...
Here's hoping this dodgy decision gets reviewed quickly. The train companies must be laughing at smuggling this price increase under the guise of a "cost-neutral change".
Anybody with any brains could see that this couldn't possibly be price neutral.
Will sw trains publish the figures to back this unfounded claim?
Will the change affect monthly rail tickets because at the moment I am paying £157 for a zone 1 - 6 travelcard. Please tell me this won't be increasing and more importantly, is this likely to increase in the near future, meaning the next couple of years??
Cheers
I noticed that you said it won't affect season tickets. Is that for both monthly and yearly tickets as at the moment I pay for my travel on a monthly basis and this costs £157 for a zone 1 - 6 travelcard. Please tell me this is not to increase at least until 2010??
Cheers
Does this affect monthly travelcards as well? And what about Oyster?
No doubt we'll all be British about it, moan about it, do nothing and pay up.
The change doesn't yet affect season tickets, but season tickets will probably be brought into line in 2010. Anybody with a Surbiton to Waterloo only railcard (ie no tube) would probably get similarly shafted.
The kingston informer has a peice about it.
In it, the local MP has condemned it as being a levy on living in the burbs.
He has also said it has an adverse impact on part-timers, because they are more likely to use single journey tickets.
There was no mention of challenging the change, or questioning the allegedly cost neutral basis on which it was made.
I can't see how this is cost neutral - inner zones fares hardly rise and outer zones soar.
Surely the rail operators sell far more outer zone tickets than inner zones, for the simple reason that there is no other alternative to the train in outer zones.
It would be nice to get some pressure to question the basis of this change in detail. Other wise the train operators will be raking it in.
This is a crushing increase. Since I have lived in Surbiton, each year there has been high price increases, often coupled with a reduction in service.
I thought that this was a particularly interesting point:
"The prices for the new zonal peak singles and returns (and from 2010, seasons) will remain subject to the limits set by fares regulation. As a result, London commuters will on average pay no more using the new zonal fares than they would had current fares continued an been increased as permitted by regulation. Operators will not make a net gain from the change in these fares"
This is clearly untrue. Firstly, the fares regulation cannot possibly allow for a 30%+ increase in Z1-6 fares, unless they are saying that they will not rise again in the coming years - unlikely!
Secondly, commuters from zone 6 wil clearly pay more on average per journey under the new structure. Sure, there appears to be very little increase for internal zone 1 journeys, but for Surbiton commuters this means an increase of 30%+ on every jouney.
This further shows the difference between Surbiton in zone 6, and New Malden 3 miles away in zone 4. The difference in a return fare is now £3.90 (£9.20 vs £5.30). That means it costs 73% more to travel those extra 3 miles!
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