<p> 2009 rail fare rises unacceptable and unjustified</p><p>1 2Ref: 61/08 Date: 31 December 2008 Release: Embargoed 00.01 1 January 2009</p><p>Passenger Focus has criticised fare rises coming into effect on 2 January 2009. The national rail watchdog says steep rises on individual routes are masked by the average figures published by the industry. </p><p>Anthony Smith, Passenger Focus chief executive said: “Many passengers will shudder and shiver when they find out the scale of some New Year fare rises. Average rises for regulated fares are 6%, unregulated 7% but inflation is currently well below this. Fare rises that hark back to a time of high inflation and spiralling energy costs look very out of kilter.</p><p>“In addition, the perpetual tinkering with ticket restrictions ensure back door fare rises continue. Yet again, many long distance passengers will be pushed into paying higher prices or locking themselves into rigid advance purchase, one train only fares.”</p><p>Passenger Focus has called on the Government and train companies to agree to help beleaguered passengers by:</p><p>• halting any further excessive fare rises, and • immediately limiting the range within which regulated fares are allowed to rise. “As an immediate action we call on ministers to open discussions with the train companies to limit the range that regulated fares can go up. Big rises simply cannot be justified in more normal times let alone the current economic climate,” Anthony Smith concluded.</p><p>Examples of January fare rises. Annual season tickets (Source: National Fares Manuals)</p><p>Current Jan 2009 Change Change Train operator Journey annual £ annual £ £ % Southeastern Gillingham-London £2,740.00 £3,020.00 £280.00 10.2% Canterbury Stns-London £3,480.00 £3,780.00 £300.00 8.6% Tonbridge-London £2,740.00 £3,000.00 £260.00 9.5% South West Trains Guildford-London £2,656.00 £2,760.00 £104.00 3.9% Portsmouth Stns-London £3,808.00 £3,984.00 £176.00 4.6% Bournemouth-London £4,888.00 £5,128.00 £240.00 4.9% C2C Southend Victoria-London £2,840.00 £3,000.00 £160.00 5.6% First Great Western Swindon-Chippenham £1,196.00 £1,268.00 £72.00 6.0% Didcot Parkway-Oxford £884.00 £936.00 £52.00 5.9% Newbury-Reading £1,268.00 £1,344.00 £76.00 6.0% Maidenhead-London £2,432.00 £2,432.00 £0.00 0.0% Gunnislake-Plymouth £768.00 £816.00 £48.00 6.3% Reading-London £3,328.00 £3,492.00 £164.00 4.9% Oxford-London £3,892.00 £3,996.00 £104.00 2.7% Southern Rye-Ashford International £868.00 £928.00 £60.00 6.9% Hove-London £3,280.00 £3,280.00 £0.00 0.0% Arundel-Croydon £2,304.00 £2,308.00 £4.00 0.2% Eastbourne-London £3,400.00 £3,592.00 £192.00 5.6% Chiltern Aylesbury-London £3,060.00 £3,200.00 £140.00 4.6% National Express East Anglia Colchester-London £3,740.00 £3,960.00 £220.00 5.9% Shenfield-London £2,320.00 £2,460.00 £140.00 6.0% First Capital Connect Huntingdon-London £3,920.00 £3,920.00 £0.00 0.0% Stevenage-London £2,740.00 £2,840.00 £100.00 3.6% Hertford-London £2,120.00 £2,200.00 £80.00 3.8% Cambridge-London £3,640.00 £3,780.00 £140.00 3.8% London Midland Worcester stns-Kidderminster £704.00 £748.00 £44.00 6.3% Northampton-London £3,884.00 £4,148.00 £264.00 6.8%</p><p>2 CrossCountry Gloucester-Birmingham stns £2,872.00 £3,044.00 £172.00 6.0% 8.9% Burton-on-Trent - Derby £984.00 £1,072.00 £88.00 6.0% Northern Morpeth-Newcastle £864.00 £916.00 £52.00 National Express East Coast Durham-Newcastle £928.00 £984.00 £56.00 6.0% Newark-Doncaster £2,172.00 £2,304.00 £132.00 6.1% Peterborough London £5,560.00 £5,892.00 £332.00 6.0% TransPennine Express Middlesbrough-York £3,708.00 £3,960.00 £252.00 6.8% East Midlands Trains Loughborough-Leicester £800.00 £848.00 £48.00 6.0% Chesterfield-Derby £1624.00 £1720.00 £96.00 5.9% Virgin Trains Coventry-London £6,724.00 £7,128.00 £404.00 6.0% Oxenholme-Preston £2,192.00 £2,324.00 £132.00 6.0% First ScotRail North Berwick-Edinburgh £1,300.00 £1,380.00 £80.00 6.2% Stirling-Glasgow £1,560.00 £1,652.00 £92.00 5.9% Cowdenbeath-Edinburgh £1,476.00 £1,564.00 £88.00 5.9% Arriva Trains Wales Caerphilly-Cardiff Queen St £712.00 £756.00 £44.00 6.2% Llanelli-Swansea £ 492.00 £520.00 £28.00 5.7% Pontypridd-Cardiff Queen St £712.00 £756.00 £44.00 6.2%</p><p>3 Non-Season tickets - examples of increases and changes to restrictions</p><p>Equivalent Equivalent January Train Jan 2009 January 2008 2009 Flow operating Jan 2008 Off-peak Standard Anytime company Saver / Return / Open / Return / Cheap Day Off-peak % £ Changes to Standard Day Anytime Return Day change change restrictions Return Day % change £ change Bristol-Edinburgh CrossCountry £131.00 £132.30 1.0% 1.3 £216.00 £248.80 15.2% £32.80 Birmingham - Edinburgh CrossCountry £96.40 £102.20 6.0% 5.8 £160.00 £183.00 14.4% £23.00 London - Cardiff FGW £57.00 £61.00 7.0% 4 £158.00 £173.00 9.5% £15.00 London - Bristol FGW £49.00 £49.00 0.0% 0 £137.00 £149.00 8.8% £12.00 London - Gloucester FGW £45.00 £47.00 4.4% 2 £125.00 £136.00 8.8% £11.00 London - Slough FGW £7.00 £7.50 7.1% 0.5 £10.10 £10.90 7.9% £0.80 London - Exeter FGW £59.00 £63.00 6.8% 4 £179.00 £196.00 9.5% £17.00 London -Plymouth FGW £65.00 £70.00 7.7% 5 £235.00 £229.00 -2.6% -£6.00</p><p>Yes - See London - Glasgow VT £102.90 £108.80 5.7% 5.9 note A £252.00 £271.00 7.5% £19.00 London - Manchester VT £62.40 £66.10 5.9% 3.7 £230.00 £247.00 7.4% £17.00</p><p>Yes - see Kings Lynn-London * FCC £26.00 £29.00 11.5% 3 note B £40.50 £44.50 9.9% £4.00 St Neots -London * FCC £18.00 £20.00 11.1% 2 £29.00 £32.00 10.3% £3.00 London - Weymouth * SWT £44.20 £48.60 10.0% 4.4 £46.50 £53.50 15.1% £7.00 Woking-London * SWT £12.00 £13.20 10.0% 1.2 £16.30 £17.30 6.1% £1.00 Farnborough-London * SWT £15.80 £17.40 10.1% 1.6 £23.40 £24.80 6.0% £1.40 Gillingham (Kent) - London * SouthEastern £13.20 £14.00 6.1% 0.8 £23.90 £26.20 9.6% £2.30 London - Canterbury * Southeastern £20.60 £21.90 6.3% 1.3 £24.00 £26.10 8.8% £2.10</p><p>Yes - see London - Norwich NXEA £41.00 £41.50 1.2% 0.5 note E £71.00 £82.00 15.5% £11.00 Yes - see Chelmsford-London * NXEA £11.90 £13.00 9.2% 1.1 note C £21.40 £22.00 2.8% £0.60 Leeds - Newcastle TPE £46.00 £48.70 5.9% 2.7 £54.40 £61.00 12.1% £6.60</p><p>Yes - see note D. Potential increase of London - Kettering EMT £35.70 £38.50 7.8% 2.8 34.5% £67.00 £75.00 11.9% £8.00</p><p>Yes - see note D. Potential increase of London - Derby EMT £50.00 £54.00 8.0% 4 34% £123.50 £138.00 11.7% £14.50</p><p>* = Cheap Day and Standard Day 2008; Off- peak Day and Anytime Day 2009</p><p>Restrictions On top of price increases there have also been changes to fare restrictions. This has the effect of increasing fares at specific (usually shoulder-peak) times</p><p>Note A: Glasgow-London Euston In January 2008 there were no restrictions on either leg for the Saver fare. In January 2009 you can now only use trains that arrive at Euston at or after 10.05 and can only return from Euston at or after 09.05. The main impact is on the return leg as it means you will not be able to catch the 05.47, 07.30 or 8.30 direct services (arriving 10.36, 12.01 and 13.01 respectively). The earliest train you can now catch is the 09.30 arriving 14.01. If you now want to travel before the 09.30 you will need to buy an Advance Fare or pay the Anytime fare (£126 single or £252 return).</p><p>Note B: Kings Lynn - London Fare increase of 11.5% on top of a 2½ hour restriction on the homeward leg imposed in May 08. In January 2008 restrictions on Cheap Day Return were: - You couldn't arrive at London Terminals until after 10.00</p><p>5 - You could come back on any service out of Kings Cross (only restrictions were for services to Cambridge and Waterbeach only) In May 2008 a restrictions was placed on the return leg. You now can't depart Kings Cross between 16.29 and 19.00. If you want to come back at that time it requires a more expensive ticket.</p><p>Note C: Chelmsford to London Fare increase of 11% on top of 49-minute extension of the time restrictions on the homeward leg imposed in May 08 In January 2008 restrictions on Cheap Day Return were: - You couldn't arrive at Liverpool Street before 09.59. - You couldn't depart from Liverpool Street between 16.59 and 18.15. In May 2008 restrictions changed to: - Not arriving Liverpool St before 09.59. - Not returning on any train departing Kings Cross between 16.29 and 18.34.</p><p>Note D: East Midland Trains There has been a considerable change to restrictions. This coincides with East Midlands Trains’ revision of off-peak fares with the introduction of a super off-peak alongside the off-peak. The following example relates to London-Kettering In January 2008 the off-peak fare was the Saver (£35.70) which allowed you to: - Travel from St Pancras between 09.01 and 15.59, or after 19.01. - Return on any train scheduled to arrive at or after 10:39. In January 2009 there are two off-peak fares: £38.50 and £48. The £38.50 has considerably harsher restrictions than the original 2008 Saver. - Travel from St Pancras between 10.26 and 15.15 or after 18.59. - Return on any train scheduled to arrive at or after 11.29. Making some journeys will now be considerably more expensive in January 2009 than in January 2008 unless passengers switch to the more expensive Saver at £48. So, for some times of the day the actual annual increase is £12.30 (34.5%).</p><p>Note E: London - Norwich In January 2008 there were restrictions on when you could depart London but not when you could arrive. In January 2009 there are more generous restrictions as to when you can depart but you can't now arrive before 10.00.</p><p>Ends</p><p>6 Notes to editors</p><p>1) Additional examples for Wales and Scotland are available at January 2009 fare rises examples - Wales and January 2009 fare rises examples - Scotland</p><p>2) Passenger Focus is the official, independent consumer organisation representing the interests of rail users nationally. Created by the Railways Act 2005, Passenger Focus is the operating name of the Rail Passengers Council. It is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Transport. We want to make a difference for rail passengers. We do this by: - providing authoritative advice for the industry based on sound research - securing improvements to rail services – both big and small-scale improvements - helping passengers with advice and information - campaigning for change and acting on passenger complaints</p><p>3) Media enquiries regarding this release should be addressed to: Krista Hamblin Press Officer 0870 336 6021/07918 626 045 [email protected]</p><p>7</p>