Commuters face above inflation cost hike to ticket fares

This week, the government revealed that the cost of train fares would increase one per cent above inflation, which the Retail Price Index (RPI) calculated to be at 3.1 per cent in July.
This could see Newbury commuters shelling out an additional £178 for an average season ticket to London Paddington, while Thatcham to London season tickets could rise from £3,960 to £4,122, Reading from £3,960 to £4,122 and Hungerford from £4,512 to £4,697.
The 4.1 per cent increase would apply to regulated fares, which include season tickets, “anytime” single tickets around major cities and off-peak inter-city return tickets, while unregulated tickets could increase by up to 9.1 per cent.
The news comes just two weeks after government figures revealed that First Great Western was the worst rail operator in the South East for peak-time overcrowding.
Hungerford residents Phil and Sarah Bickley travel to London four or five times a week for work, Mr Bickley owning a men’s clothing store and Mrs Bickley working for a television company, and both purchase season tickets at a cost of £4,512.
Mr Bickley described the service as “shocking” and said he had received a £200 discount to his season ticket as a result of service disruptions last year.
“It’s too expensive and it’s not reliable enough to justify the expense,” he said. “If these fare increases do go ahead, that would mean we would be paying more on our travel than on our mortgage.
“I don’t mind the commute, I just want it to be reliable.
“There are delays all the time - if the weather is hot, everything goes pear-shaped, if it’s too cold it goes pear-shaped.
“It can be really stressful [First Great Western] don’t communicate with customers on the train, I get information from Twitter.”
The couple moved to Hungerford from London two years ago to enjoy the country lifestyle, but he said that the standard of service combined with the potential price increase was causing them consider moving closer to London.
On Tuesday, he took to Twitter to complain to First Great Western after delays to the service caused him to arrive late at work.
He wrote: “@FGW poor service, and constant apologising don't make up for the £4,500 spent on my season ticket I'm afraid.”
A spokesman for First Great Western, James Davis, said the cost increase was necessary to allow for improvements to infrastructure.
“Since 2004, successive governments have put more of a burden on train travellers,” he said. “[It’s] a government decision to improve services and create more, quicker and more reliable services.
“Clearly investment in infrastructure is needed for that to occur.”
He cited the electrification of the Great Western main line and the revamp of Reading train station as examples.