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Rail companies were attacked today for taking passengers for granted and fleecing commuters with fare increases.
A scathing report by MPs accused the industry of clobbering travellers during the recession with above-inflation rises of up to 11 per cent at the worst possible moment.
The cross-party transport select committee said ticket buyers had to go to “extraordinary lengths” in order to benefit from much-vaunted cheap deals, while “back-door fare rises” had been brought in, such as stiff charges to reserve a seat.
The committee called for radical reforms to the “muddled” system of rail franchises used to license services since privatisation.
Chairman Louise Ellman said: “There is no point involving the private sector if companies can cream off the profits in good times, but leave passengers and taxpayers to pick up the bill when hard times hit.”
She added: “The fare rises we saw this year were excessive.”
The committee's report expressed anger that train companies were able to walk away from franchise deals during a downturn in business, even if they had made good profits in the past.
It called for longer-term franchises to be negotiated in future, with high penalties to be imposed for companies that failed to keep up service levels in difficult times.
Ministers should consider operating the East Coast Main Line as a public railway after the franchise holder said they would walk away, it added. The committee said it was “unacceptable” that parent company National Express might be able to “cling on” to its other rail franchises, including the London to Tilbury and Southend route.
The franchise system was failing to meet the needs of passengers, the committee said. Fare structures were far too complicated and better information should be given to help people buy saver tickets. Today's report welcomed moves by Transport Secretary Lord Adonis to rein in fare rises next year.
Lord Adonis said reforms to improve the rail franchising system were being considered, including longer franchises.
Bob Crow, the general secretary of the RMT transport union, said the only solution was renationalisation. He said “We believe that the franchise mess is beyond reform and that the only real solution is a return to public ownership of our railways.”
Reader views (17)
can get a return flight from dublin to standsted for £10 distance 500 miles. Standsted to liverpool st station £25 RETURN on train distance 50 miles , which means the train is twenty five times more expensive per mile. its no wonder alternative parties like the bnp are getting votes when you see crap like this in society and no body bats an eye lid.
- Joe, london england
@ John Buckeridge
Track problems would affect the service for customers regardless of whether there is 1 single train operator on that line or 2. On the Brighton-London line there are already 2 different operators sharing track, but with the current ticketing system it matters not which service you choose to take and therefore there's no differential in pricing. The two operators seem to be treated as if they were running on separate tracks because they terminate in two different London terminals, and the fact that they (mostly) share the same track from Brighton to Clapham Junction is conveniently ignored for competition purposes.
I admit that there are some logistical barriers before we can have separate ticketing systems for rival operators on the same train line. However, we do live in an electronic age where almost anything is possible, and customers have, for many years, been familiar with choosing between, say, National Express and Megabus coaches, or Oxford Tube and Oxford Express coaches, so it's not beyond customers to be able to choose which train operator(s) to travel with in advance, even on multi-stage journeys - if that means that price competition and quality-of-service competition is fierce.
- Etienne Shui, Epsom, England
It is the cost of the fee that the operators have to pay that is quite a significant cause of the high fares.
Just look at the fees extracted in respect of the mobile phone frnachises, and we have the highest mobile phone almost anywhere in the world. Why, because 20 years on the phone companies are still trying to recoup the billions they paid the govt to get the licence.
A call to a local mobile from a land line costs 14p per minute, but a call to a mobile in the mid east costs 7p per minute.
Having fleeced the private sector, Broon blames them, when he should be looking at what he did when he got the chance. And he is still at it.
Of course, it never is his fault, nothing to do with him or what he did, he walks on water.......!
- Hugh, Middx
The virgin/stagecoach west coast line is a disaster.
Its always crowded due to too few coaches.Its expensive and dirty.
I thought the idea of going private was for more competition?
- Eric, london
@Etienne Shui
Two competing rail companies running the same route?! A sure recipe for disaster. If the track is causing problems for one operator, what makes you think it will be any different for the second. Running a railway is very different to providing local bus services to students and OAPs.
The system needs to be changed to allow county councils to play more of a role in highlighting transport needs. Allow them to conduct feasibility studies into the reopening of lines in areas where the roads are already clogged and there is a solid business case. Their results would feed back to a of a new strategic national body created to oversee the future development of the railways.
- John Buckeridge, London
The only reason why Bob Crow wants the Re-nationalisation of the railways is so that his union can shut down the whole network everytime they strike, just as they did before the breakup of the network.
The current system does not work, but just giving Bob so much power is not the way forwards.
- Roger, London
This was never going to work and it came as no surprise to me that one of the directors of Stagecoach has been announced as the richest woman in Scotland.
This experiment by MP's has been a total disaster and both the Taxpayer and Fare payer should be told the truth that it has been a disaster, and it will be returned to the public now.
The cloud on the horizon is an above inflation ticket price increases for next year, kicking off with Boris asking Londoners to pick up the PPP financial black hole. The rest of the rail network will see this as an excuse to raise their own prices.
- Paul B, London
Dear Standard
The comments I have read regarding this shambles aren't really that political, and they shouldn't be, apart from who was to blame years ago. But that doesn't help the current rubbish situation passengers have.
My point is - Bob Crow may be a perverbial pain in the backside, but for once, he has it bang on correct. Re-nationalisation is the only possible right way. Please show this fact in your news and editorial columns.
Thank you.
- Rod, Epping, UK
Isn't it about time the who railway system was taken back into public ownership? The previous Tory administration created this mess under John Major and sadly Labour didn't get rid of it in 1997. When will the government (both previous, present and any future) learn that you can never run the railways at a profit.
- John, London, UK
"I believe that any failings in the train services and pricing are due to a failure in regulation and Government."
- Harry H, London UK
Well you must be VERY stupid then. It is Tory PRIVATISATION that mucked up the whole system, setting up the whole shambles in the first place. No-one else in the rest of Europe runs their railways this way. It is just a total failure. Bring back public ownership now, just like in other, more civilised countries.
- Robert C, London UK
Privatisation has failed nationalize now.
- Mick, London, England
If any politician can show me how to run two trains on the same line at the same time then I will admit competition in the railways is possible......it doesn't and hasn't worked - stop subsidising shareholders and get it back into National hands. The yearly increases are farcical and means that less people will use them.
- Elliott Gordon, Watford, England
Etienne Shui, Epsom, England
I fully support your views but would like to expand on the issue with the MPs' reports now. MPs STILL think they can feather their nests, by either knowing that rail privitisation was bad for the passenger all along (and thus lying), or by being stupid enough not to realise, therefore should not have been doing their job.
All of us, especially around the cities, knew it would be a disaster as no railway around the world is not subsitised in some way. So how could they possibly make a "profit" for shareholders without hiking fares, cutting services, underinvestment and lengthening timetables? A total shambles, a total waste of OUR money, therefore it is now time for re-nationalisation without throwing more of our cash to the wind by supporting private limited companies. If this goes on without decisive action (what a laugh that is with this government anyway), we will be even worse off. Act now. Re-nationalise the whole lot and put in effective and long-term views, special effective management, and not piecemeal investment - because that seems cheaper at the time......Look at the whole picture and decide how best to use the cash you have now, at the proper rate of interest. Don't look at us for more investment capital, we're all skint!
Millions rely on a railway daily and you have let literally millions of us down by your incompetence and greed. Think of that on polling day.
- Rod, Epping, UK
I believe that any failings in the train services and pricing are due to a failure in regulation and Government.
Labour have fleeced the motorist and taken a considerable amount of money from the train operators via the franchise system. They have failed to put a significant proportion of this extra money back into transport funding. For example if National Express pay £1.4bn to operate the East Coast Line. They would have to get this back and more from the passenger. The franchise charge is therefore an indirect tax on the passenger.
If the Government truly wished to have an efficient and cheaper rail national rail service and reduce emissions. It would be better to appoint operators on the basis of their proposed efficiency, rather than how much they are prepared to pay. If they subsequently fail to provide an adequate service, that is the time to hit them in the pocket.
If the railways were re-nationalized, it would mean that The Government would not be receiving any franchise money in any case. We would also have an operator with no incentive to be efficient. The whole network would become more vulnerable to industrial action from the rail unions. Avoiding disputes would inevitably lead to increased costs and higher fares or a wasteful use of taxpayers' money with increased funding.
- Harry H, London UK
South Eastern trains are introducing a new timetable which they are quite literally sneaking in. The timetable is cutting a lot of the peak services so that you are forced to use their high speed train service. Sounds not bad. However, you have to pay more for the high speed train service. Plus the train sation is not a 5 min walk away but actually a bus ride away. A lot of people have effectively been priced off the trains and it will be cheaper to drive in. Or have to quit working and it makes more economical sense to not work!
- Jk, Kent
I would like to take up these problems with the directors and chief executives of these rail companies if I see any of them on one of their own trains, but the only train they ever catch is the gravy train.
- Kate, London
It is simply amazing that it has taken MPs this long to realise what has been obvious from the start of rail privatisation. Just like every other privatisation the Tories had a hand in, these rail services were created as (regional) monopolies. Common sense tells us that monopolies can never bring about value for the customer.
At the very least, bus operators should have been allowed to run routes directly along rail routes, stopping at each rail station. And on lines where there are services more frequent than every 30 mins, we could have had two rail operators competing against each other on the same routes by means of alternating services. That way, when a train is late, cancelled, dirty, or whatever, the customer could punish that company by choosing its rival.
My argument extends to bus services as well, as there is nothing more annoying than an every-30-mins bus not showing up, then having to take the next service run by the same operator and being forced to pay them anyway.
This country will never offer its residents value for money until Labour and especially the Conservatives finally understand what a free market is supposed to be, and how a government's duty is to ensure that a free market is operating at all times.
HINT: Government-sanctioned monopolies regulated by toothless watchdogs who act years too late - and only grab what amounts to further stealth taxes when they DO extract fines - is NOT the way to go.
- Etienne Shui, Epsom, England
