Anger at fare hikes with shoddy service (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Anger at fare hikes with shoddy service

11:16am Saturday 5th January 2008 in News By Sarah Newstead

Train fare hikes that hit beleaguered borough residents this week are like a "punch in the stomach", TravelWatch, the rail users' watchdog, has said.

From Tuesday, commuters stumped up as regulated fares rose by an average of 4.8 per cent, with off-peak fares up by 4.3 per cent.

Susan Kramer, MP for Richmond Park, said: "Compared to others, users of South West Trains have seen less of a surge in train fares. However, these constant year-on-year increases are unacceptable without real improvements in service.

"The Government needs to reconsider plans to make passengers carry the cost of all the years it has failed to invest in our trains.

"We want people to switch from cars to trains, rather than being priced back onto our roads."

A TravelWatch spokeswoman said that fares were not linked to performance within a franchise system and that South West Trains (SWT) was not among those operators with the highest rises.

But she said: "We understand that to passengers who have not seen a great service, any rise above inflation must seem like a punch in the stomach."

SWT said it had frozen many Super Off-Peak fares. Bruce Akhurst, commercial and marketing director for SWT said in excess of £5m had been invested across the network.

He said that trains had been refurbished and more improvements were planned at stations, car parks and on trains.

Wider criticism has been levelled at train operators in other areas, including First Great Western. It increased fares by up to 9.8 per cent.