Yorkshire MP attacks rail fares as a "nightmare for commuters" as season ticket prices soar

An annual season ticket from Leeds to Manchester Piccadilly will cost from £3,584 from March 5 according to Trainline, with a ticket from York to Leeds costing £2,612.

Analysis by the Labour Party shows commuters in Sheffield are paying an increase of £1,078 for a season ticket between Sheffield and Derby since the Tories came to power in 2010.

Pressure Group the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) calculated a commuter earning an average salary travelling from York into Leeds will have to work for five weeks to be able to afford the ticket, while it will take six weeks for a worker travelling from Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, into Birmingham.

The Government has been accused of adding to the cost-of-living crisis with the hike in fares.

Paul Tuohy, chief executive of CBT, claimed the fare rise “will do nothing” to ease the cost-of-living crisis, help the economy or tackle climate change.

The UK, Scottish and Welsh governments set the cap on rises in regulated fares, which are around half of tickets such as season tickets and off-peak returns on long-distance journeys.

They decided to match this year’s figure with the Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation for July 2021, which was 3.8 per cent.

This is the steepest increase since January 2013, according to figures from industry body the Rail Delivery Group (RDG).

Demand for rail travel is around a third down from early 2020, pre-pandemic.

Sheffield Heeley MP Louise Haigh, Labour’s shadow transport secretary, said: “This brutal Tory fare hike will be a nightmare for millions of passengers.

“Many families in Sheffield are already struggling to make ends meet and facing soaring taxes and bills will now be clobbered with an eyewatering rise in the cost of the commute.

“Rather than give them a helping hand the Tories have piled on more misery.

“The worst part is that the communities who will feel the brunt of years of broken promises, empty words and no action, are at the same time being squeezed by the Conservatives’ tax hikes and rising bills, as those with the broadest shoulders remain largely untouched.”

A Department for Transport (DfT) spokesman said it has “protected passengers” by delaying the fares rise until two months later than normal, and setting a cap which is “well below current inflation rates”.

Latest figures showed inflation based on the retail price index in January was 7.8 per cent – the highest since the 1990s.

The DfT spokesman added: “We must now look to recoup some of the £14bn which was spent to keep vital services running throughout the pandemic in a way that is fair for all taxpayers.”