How I went off the rails over the high cost of third-rate service

Its arrival opened up new opportunities for Britain’s workforce, so how did train travel come to cost so much, asks Sarah Freeman.

A couple of years ago, when a litre of petrol first began creeping up into triple figures, I attempted in my own small way to get my own back on the oil companies. From there on in, I abandoned the car and decided instead to catch the train to work.

It wasn’t exactly hardship. I live a 10-minute walk from the railway station in York and the journey to Leeds takes a little over 20 minutes. Door to door, it’s roughly the same as driving and as I set off that first day, there seemed something almost civilised about swapping the monotony of the A64 for a coffee with a platform filled with other commuters who were, without even realising it, saving the environment.

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The self-congratulation lasted right up to the point I enquired about the price of a monthly pass. At the time, it was roughly costing £5 a day in petrol to commute to Leeds and back – a weekly pass came in at more than £45.

I was told that I could use it seven days a week. Like most commuters, I only wanted to use it Monday to Friday and asked whether by chance they did a five-day pass. It was a stupid question. Of course they didn’t.

Still, even though I was paying a little more, I told myself it would be worth it. Instead of getting caught in school run traffic, I would be able to sit back, relax and read a newspaper. I don’t think I ever got a seat that first week. Once, I couldn’t even get on the train it was so busy.

If the mornings were bad, the evenings were even worse. Crammed into a carriage of stressed workers, who all look like they lost their sense of purpose on the way to the station, the 20 minute journey felt like an hour.

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Thinking perhaps I had just had a bad run, I stayed on the train for a second week. It was even worse. So 10 days later, I was back in the car and on the odd occasion I find myself stuck in traffic, I console myself with the fact that at least I’m not on the train.

And now there is another reason for keeping to four wheels. Rail fares are going up and with increases tied to the retail price index for many that could be another eight per cent added to their monthly bill.

Yesterday, Rail Minister Theresa Villiers was wheeled out to defend the rise, but her arguments about the budget deficit and need for investment in the rail network were unconvincing.

A peak return ticket from York to Leeds is now £14.30 and on the few occasions since my aborted experiment I’ve had to take to the train, commuters are still packed like sardines and the service seems to have changed little.

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As campaigners were preparing to launch a protest at London’s Waterloo station, those who depend on rail began to calculate just how much the increase will cost. The news was not good. “Every year the Government talks about investing in the rail infrastructure,” said one disgruntled commuter, who makes the daily journey between York and Harrogate. “But every year nothing changes. I resent paying such high prices for what is ultimately a mediocre service.

“If Britain had a first class train service I wouldn’t’ mind paying a little bit more, but it doesn’t. I think the rail companies think they have a captive audience, but people are really fed up and I know I’m looking into working at home a couple of days a week to avoid the trains.

“Charging exorbitant fares seems completely counterproductive to any idea of encouraging people onto public transport, but then our rail network is not known for having an abundance of common sense, is it?”