MP seeks action on fares blow for region’s rail users

Leeds North West MP Greg Mulholland led calls last night for a rethink of a rolling stock finance arrangement that means local rail users are facing higher ticket price increases than people in other parts of the country.

He spoke out amid anger that average fares nationwide are set to go up by 6.2 per cent at the start of 2013.

In West Yorkshire, however, the average rise will be 8.2 per cent.

Mr Mulholland (Lib Dem) told the Yorkshire Post: “I am very concerned at the proposed fare rises.

“While I welcome the multi-billion pound infrastructure investment programme announced by the coalition last month, at a time when the cost of living remains a big issue it’s not acceptable to ask rail users to pick up extra costs.

“We already have some of the highest rail fares in Europe and after Labour raised fares by 66 per cent between 1997 and 2010 it would be wrong to pile on costs any further.

“In particular, it’s simply not on to ask passengers in West Yorkshire to pay even more than elsewhere in the country.

“They have, after all, already put up with inadequate rolling stock for far too long.

“This is an issue that I will be writing about to the Secretary of State for Transport [Justine Greening] as soon as possible.

“I also hope to raise the matter on the floor of the House.”

Leeds West MP Rachel Reeves (Lab) said: “This is a government that puts the wrong people first.

“In Leeds we will see some of the highest ticket price rises in the country, and passengers will be hit hard by this decision.”

West Yorkshire passenger transport authority Metro was one of the parties which struck a deal responsible for the additional two per cent hike facing rail users in the county.

The deal involved leasing a total of six two-car Class 158 units for use between Leeds and Sheffield and on other express routes.

Pressing them into service made an additional 805 seats available during the morning rush-hour and 884 in the evening peak.

The move also freed up other units for use on busy West Yorkshire routes such as the Harrogate, Caldervale, Huddersfield and Pontefract lines.

Metro last night said the deal had made a “significant difference” to overcrowding and had facilitated growth in passenger numbers.

The publicly-funded transport authority’s chairman, Coun James Lewis, yesterday called on the Government to rethink the fare rises planned for 2013.

If the increases take effect, ticket prices will have gone up by more than inflation for 10 years in a row.

Coun Lewis also said he shared passengers’ frustration that they were paying fare rises now but would not see the benefits of projects such as the electrification of the trans-Pennine rail route for several years.

Ministers last month announced a £9bn spending spree on rail projects across the country.

The investment bonanza included the funding of the £500m Northern Hub, a package of schemes that includes the full electrification of the trans-Pennine line.

Confirmation of the outlay marked a significant victory for the Yorkshire Post’s Give Us A Fair Deal campaign.

Launched last October, it has been calling for a fairer distribution of funding from Whitehall.

One key campaign demand is for the provision of extra carriages to ease overcrowding on commuter routes in Yorkshire.

Research by the Office of Rail Regulation has found that more than 10 per cent of standard class passengers arriving in Leeds during a typical morning rush hour in autumn 2010 would have had to stand on their journeys.