Rail users face price hike

RAIL passengers in East Anglia are facing above-inflation fare rises in the new year, it was confirmed today.

Season tickets between the region and London, and on services within the region are to go up by four per cent.

There will be a similar increase on saver tickets to London from stations in Suffolk and Norfolk, and open tickets – both standard and first-class – will go up by an average of 3.8 pc.

Day return tickets to London from stations in Essex – including Manningtree – will go up by two pc, while local cheap day return fares will be frozen.

The increases are part of a nationwide fare rise which will see passengers paying an average of four pc extra - with some forking out 7.2 pc more for off-peak tickets on some commuter services in to London.

Peter Meades, of 'one' railways said the increases were necessary to pay for improved services in better trains – the company is introducing more modern trains on its services to London and on some local lines, including Ipswich to Lowestoft and Ipswich to Peterborough.

Mr Meades said: "We hope passengers will notice a big increase in the quality of services from early next year, and these increases are necessary to help pay for theses improvements.

The Association of Train Operating Companies insisted the hikes are necessary to pay for much-needed new trains and improvements to stations.

George Muir, director-general of ATOC, defended the plans: "We need to build better railways in this country and this money will help do so.

"The railways are really fairly full yet passenger numbers continue to grow. Railways are a very popular way of travelling and there are going to be issues we will have to face in a few years' time about the bottlenecks on railways.'

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