South East commuters face New Year fare misery

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 28th Nov 2007

Improvements in commuter services not happening fast enough

Lib Dem South East MEP, Sharon Bowles, has today criticised train operators in Kent and East Sussex following their announcement that train fares are set to soar by up to six times the rate of inflation in the New Year.

Sharon Bowles said, "The scale of these fare rises is astonishing and will hit commuters hard following the expensive Christmas and New Year period. We are seeing more trains running on time, which is welcome. However, increases in ticket prices of several times the rate of inflation are completely unjustified."

From January 2, 2008 train operators will be allowed to increase the price of most tickets. Southeastern, who operate train services in Kent, East Sussex and London, have announced that their regulated fares (e.g. season tickets and standard returns) will increase by an average of 6.8 per cent. The cost of some journeys will rise by as much as 12%.

Sharon added, "The train companies are all too quick to announce new inflation-busting fare rises, but improvements in the experience for ordinary commuters are not keeping pace. For example, where are the new measures to tackle chronic over-crowding on busy trains early in the morning and in the evening? Asking people to pay considerably more for the same level of service is wholly unfair in my view."