West of England commuters face an unwelcome price hike as season ticket fares are set to rocket by biggest increase in a decade, next year.
Passengers on average were hit with a 2.6 per cent increase on the cost of train travel from March 1 2021. But new Retail Price Index (RPI) figures released today show the already eye-watering cost could rise by another 4.8 per cent next January.
That will mean a Bath Spa to London season ticket will have doubled since 2010. Keynsham to Bristol Temple Meads season tickets could rise above £1000 for the first time ever while a season ticket from Bristol Temple Meads or Bristol Parkway to London Paddington could rise by a whopping £630 at the turn of the year.
Metro Mayor Dan Norris said: “If we are going to meet our ambitious net zero targets we need to be encouraging people onto trains not putting obstacles in the way. Passengers have been hit again and again by eye-watering rail fare rises. Season ticket prices have doubled in cost since the Tories came to power; this is a hike much greater than the average increase in people’s wages.
“For many people in the West of England, travelling by train isn’t a luxury, it’s how they get to work. I want investment in a 21st century railway and more decisions made here rather than in London. My long term aim is to build ‘West of England Transport’, an integrated, affordable transport system.”
Jim McMahon MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, said: “Rail travel has long been unaffordable for many people, thanks to the Conservatives prioritising the profits of private companies over passengers. “This would be yet another eye-watering hike hot on the heels of the failure of the Government’s so-called money saving flexi ticket scheme.”