Public transport costs outstrip cars

The cost of running a car has continued to fall while bus and rail fares have risen, according to Government figures.

Transport Minister Sadiq Khan said the “real” cost of motoring, including buying the car, had fallen by 14 per cent between 1997 and 2009.

Over the same period, bus and coach fares increased by 24 per cent, while rail fares went up by 13 per cent in real terms, he told Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Norman Baker in a Commons written reply yesterday.