Transport Insights

A parliamentary answer from a transport minister has highlighted the government’s impotence – or reluctance to intervene – over hikes to unregulated rail fares, even by nationalised rail companies.

LibDem MP Roz Savage asked the transport secretary:

what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of increasing Advance rail fares on passengers who commute two or three days per week.

It’s not clear whether she was asking about actual increases or planned increases, but (very) junior transport minister Keir Mather replied:

Advance fares are not regulated by the Government and are managed on a commercial basis by train operators. They are priced according to demand for a particular service, and their price and availability can vary depending on the route, date and time of travel, and when the ticket is purchased.

All of which is true but it studiously avoids answering the question. We might assume that the Department for Transport has not made any assessment of the potential impact of any increases on part-time commuters.

It is basically saying that unregulated fares are not its problem.

But hang on a minute. Last year the DfT announced:

Rail passengers in the North to benefit from simpler fares and cheaper tickets thanks to public ownership

Passengers in the North of England can benefit from cost and carbon savings through a new customer initiative that expands the availability of advance tickets across government owned train operators.

Rail minister, Lord Peter Hendy, said: “This is exactly the type of collaborative work public ownership enables, allowing us to put passengers first by making train travel simpler and more affordable.”

The move is part of a wider effort to make rail travel more attractive, affordable, and sustainable – and shows how public ownership can deliver real benefits for passengers.

Admittedly, making more advance tickets available (i.e. on journeys with more than one operator) is not the same as controlling their prices, but there is an obvious contradiction in claiming credit for cheaper fares as a benefit of public ownership and saying that higher fares, even from nationalised firms, are not your responsibility.