Labour

Cameron wrong on rail fares - Eagle & Adonis

Maria Eagle MP, Labour's Shadow Transport Secretary, following exchanges on rail fares at PMQs, said:

“In 2009 the Labour government took away the flexibility for rail operators to raise individual regulated fares by up to five per cent above the national fare change and in autumn 2010 the Tory-led Government gave it back. The position is clear, David Cameron is wrong and his out of touch government has allowed train operating companies to hit passengers with much higher fares.”

Andrew Adonis, Labour's Transport Secretary from 2009-2010, said:
 
“Prior to 2010, train companies had the right to increase individual train fares by up to five per cent above the average RPI+1 per cent level. This was a legacy of the privatisation settlement.
 
“I scrapped this flexibility because I believed it was deeply unfair to allow commuters to be penalised with such hefty fare increases. There was also a lack of transparency, and I was not convinced that train companies were not gaming the system at passengers' expense in their use of this flexibility.   
 
“The ending of the flexibility was strongly opposed by the train companies, but they complied and it was highly popular with passengers. It was my firm intention to continue the policy for subsequent years, and I was mystified when Philip Hammond, my successor, reinstated the fares flexibility. The only people who supported this change were the train companies.
 
“It is the job of government to be on the side of the travelling public. Labour took this seriously, which is why we scrapped the fares flexibility. By contrast, the present government appears just to be on the side of the train companies.”