Bedford Rail Travellers Not Getting Fare Deal

4.12.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 18th Jan 2008

Liberal Democrats have slammed the excessive fares which Bedford rail travellers are forced to pay

Rail travellers in Bedford are forced to pay some of the most expensive fares for travel to and from London, it has been revealed today.

Figures compiled by the Liberal Democrats show that a return journey to London arriving by 9.00am and returning to Bedford at 5.30pm costs 29 pence per mile. That's more than 50 per cent more than fares to London from some stations elsewhere in the region such as Basildon (19 pence per mile), and even travel from nearby commuter towns on the same First Capital Connect network such as Stevenage (25 pence per mile) and Sandy (24 pence per mile) is significantly cheaper.

These figures have been released following the annual fare increases earlier this month which saw fares charged by East Midlands Trains and First Capital Connect, the operators of the main routes in and out of Bedford, rise in excess of the rate of inflation.

Commenting, Bedford Borough Liberal Democrat Group Environment Spokesperson Cllr Paul Whitehead said:

"These figures will only confirm what many local rail users already feel very strongly, which is that rail travellers in Bedford are simply not getting a fair deal on fares. The fact that tickets from stations in nearby towns such as Sandy and Stevenage are cheaper will be of no comfort to Bedford passengers who use services operated by the same company, First Capital Connect.'

"This month's above-inflation rail fare increases have hit both commuters and leisure travellers very hard, with unregulated fares on East Midlands Trains through Bedford increasing by a massive 7%. This is all in keeping with the trend under this government for the cost of travelling by bus or train to increase well above the rate of inflation, while the real cost of motoring has actually fallen since 1997. Under these circumstances, how on earth does the government expect to get people out of their cars and onto public transport?"