Unfair fares - Rochdale the costliest

Rochdale Station

Rochdale rail fares are now the most expensive when compared with others for a similar length of journey in the whole country not just Greater Manchester.

A spokesperson for the campaign group, Support the Oldham Rochdale Manchester lines (STORM) said: "Many years ago Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GM PTE now TfGM) decided on a zonal structure for fares.

"The zone boundaries were not concentric circles. The Greater Manchester (GM) zone boundaries zigzagged all over the place.

"The shape of the Central Zone was used as their baseline and the inclusion of Salford Crescent in the Central Zone skewed the zones inevitably in favour of places like Bolton and Wigan.

"No doubt the councillors from Rochdale on the Passenger Transport Authority were not on the ball and did not foresee the future problems as fare levels rose.

"The £1 GM dayrover rail ticket then available masked the future problems.

"The West Yorkshire zonal fares were more concentric circles as Leeds has only the one station in the city centre.

"Comparisons with other journeys is the only way to attack the problem.

"The slogan 'The Forgotten Railway' brought a lot of attention some years ago when Support the Oldham Rochdale Manchester lines (STORM) used the term to describe our line. Hence it is fair to describe the historical zone structure devised by Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) as 'botched'.

"Fare anomalies are supposed to be the remit of Rail North, but how does one
bring them to their attention.

"They do not pay any attention to rail user groups or to individual local authorities located within a passenger transport executive area.

"Rochdale MBC does not have a voice in Rail North. The one and only way they listen to anyone is via the passenger transport executive, that is, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM).

"Is anyone convinced that TfGM is dealing with the issue of the unfair Rochdale's fares?

"There is the once valid view that passenger transport executive area fares were held low below the general level of fares elsewhere. This view is still held in some circles but comparing the Harrogate to York fares with Rochdale fares, this view is no longer valid.

"STORM will make it a resolution to campaign throughout 2018 to bring this unfair treatment of Rochdale’s passengers to an end."