Protests at rail ticket price increase
Date published: 02 January 2018
Photo: Google
Rochdale Railway Station
Protests have been taking place at railway stations due to the price of an average rail ticket being increased by 3.4% across the UK, in the biggest increase to fares since 2013.
Fare increases of regulated fares - which comprise about half of all tickets - are calculated using the previous July's Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation.
Since 2007 the financial burden of running the rail system has increasingly fallen on passengers, after the government decided taxpayers as a whole should pay less via subsidies.
Bruce Williamson, of campaign group Railfuture, says the lower Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation measure should be used for regulated fare increases.
He argued that if CPI had been used rather than RPI since 2004, rail fares would be 17% lower.
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