Comment: Rail fare rises hardly the work of the ‘greenest govt ever’
Cheaper, better rail services are vital to greening our transport system.
By Andy Atkins
Like most people travelling by train into London first thing in the morning I normally focus on reading and quietly gearing up for the day. But early yesterday morning I had a rare opportunity to make some noise with my fellow commuters at the Campaign for Better Transport's 'Stop the Fare Hikes' demo at Waterloo station.
Not surprisingly, people are furious to hear that commuter fares will rise by eight per cent next year – three per cent above inflation – and worse still, the government plans to increase them by around 30% by 2015.
As I said in my speech at yesterday's demo, these are surely not the policies of the "greenest government ever" that we were promised by David Cameron.
Rail is, after all, a low-carbon alternative to driving cars and flying. As far as reducing UK emissions is concerned, it would make more sense to cut rail fares to encourage people to use trains more – instead of pushing people back into cars on already jam-packed roads, and increasing congestion, emissions and air pollution.
Transport secretary Theresa Villiers says the prices are needed to pay for improvements to rail services, finance much-needed new rail schemes like Crossrail and ease overcrowding.
Taxpayers must pay less towards these improvements, she says – and passengers must pay more, since they are the people who will benefit.
This might be easier for me and my fellow commuters to stomach if botched privatisation hadn't left Britain's railways expensive to maintain and upgrade – hardly the fault of passengers. The UK government already spends less on transport than many of our competitor economies.
So what needs to happen to stop our fares from rising?
Friends of the Earth wants the government to reduce rail fares to one per cent below inflation – something the Lib Dems committed to in their election manifesto.
This could be paid for by introducing fuel tax on domestic flights – similar to the United States. It's scandalous that here in Britain short flights are left completely untaxed when there are greener ways to travel. According to the Campaign for Better Transport, this would raise just short of £500 million each year that could be used to subsidise rail travel.
We also need British rail companies to operate as efficiently as those of our European neighbours. Sir Roy Mcnulty's recent report identified a 34% efficiency gap between Network Rail and the best European operators. Having chosen to retain a privately run railway, the government must ensure Network Rail's performance improves.
And in the longer term there's the matter of spending priorities. Given the constraints on transport spending, there are huge doubts over whether parting with billions for High Speed Rail (HS2) is actually a wise investment. Yes, HS2 does have the potential to increase rail capacity and ease overcrowding on some of our commuter lines by freeing up capacity. But it will do little to cut carbon or entice people out of cars and planes, so the £2 billion per year that the government has earmarked could be better spent on improving our existing rail network – as well as improving local transport in our towns and cities. Several of our major cities need tram networks and travel could be revolutionised by providing better buses and safer streets to encourage people to walk and cycle short journeys.
Rail should be at the core of an efficient, affordable, low-carbon transport system that is fit for the future – but increasing fares will make it increasingly the preserve of the rich, driving inequalities deeper into our already-troubled society.
This is why I put pen to paper yesterday morning and signed the petition for Fair Fares Now, and I urge all other rail passengers out there to do the same.
Andy Atkins is executive director of Friends of the Earth.
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