Unions urge freeze on rail fares

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The Transport Salaried Staffs Association will tell the Commons Transport Select Committee that the automatic annual rail fares formula should be scrapped.

General secretary Gerry Doherty will tell the committee: "These fares rises were unjustifiable during the boom - they are a blatant insult to passengers during the bust."

The committee has launched an inquiry into fares following public fury last month at a 6% average increase while inflation fell below 1%.

Mr Doherty will tell MPs: "There is no economic reason that rail companies should increase fares every year by inflation plus 1% in an industry which receives £5 billion a year from the taxpayer.

"Passengers are paying twice through taxation and then fare rises. Why should passengers pay ever higher fares regardless of the service they receive? They get all the pain and the private rail companies get all the gain from record profits."

Mr Doherty will also call on ministers to scrap plans to make passengers pay a bigger share of running the railways over the next five years.

"Our fares are three times higher than the rest of Europe where they run a social railway for the benefit of passengers and the wider economy. It is high time we followed their example."