In The U.K. – First Ai??A?1,000 (CAD $1,760.00) rail fare revealed – From The Independant
And the privatization of British Rail, was to bring in a new era of competition and cheaper fares – not!
First Ai??A?1,000 (CAD $1,760.00) rail fare revealed
By Peter Woodman, Press Association
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
The rise in the cost of train tickets has led to the first Ai??A?1,000 rail fare, it was revealed today.
The fare – of Ai??A?1,002 – is for a turn-up-and-go, first-class return from Newquay in Cornwall to the Kyle of Lochalsh in the Scottish Highlands.
Unearthed in a survey of fares by rail expert Barry Doe, the Cornwall to Scotland return trip would cover around 1,700 miles, with tickets able to be bought from the CrossCountry train company. Mr Doe’s research, highlighted in the London Evening Standard, also showed that some standard-class, turn-up-and go return faresAi??Ai??have risen 100 per cent in price since the mid-1990s.
A London-to-Manchester return, for example, has gone up from Ai??A?33 in 1995 to Ai??A?66.10 now, while a London-to-New Castle Upon TyneAi??Ai??return has risen 84 per cent to Ai??A?105.
Cat Hobbs, public transport campaigner for the Campaign for Better Transport, said today: “The NewquayAi??Ai??Ai??A?1,000 fare shows just how pricey and complicated the fare structure is. “We think fares in this country are far too expensive. They are the most expensive in Europe. We think the Government should step in and review how they regulate fares.”
Under an annual inflation rate price formula, regulated fares (which include season tickets) will actually go down in January as retail price index inflation is in negative territory.
But Ms Hobbs said today that the Government should not take any credit for this dip inAi??Ai??as it was merely a result of the recession.Ai??Ai??Ai??Ai??She went on: “Our fear is that the train companies will put up unregulated fares (which include many off-peak tickets) to compensate for the dip in regulated fare income.
“The Government should not let the train companies take all the flak for this. It’s up to the Government to change the system.”
A spokesman for CrossCountry said: “No-one has actually bought this Ai??A?1,000 fare but it does exist. Someone wanting a first-class return would be likely to book a saver return in advance and pay Ai??A?561.”
http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/first-pound1000-rail-fare-revealed-1813896.html
From the Guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/03/first-1000-pound-train-fare
Privatization always leads to huge disparities in price between high demand and low demand routes. Competition only works when there is sufficient demand for multiple operators to fight over. Surely the number of people wanting to travel via first class rail from Cornwall to the Highlands is extremely low.
Where there is government control over pricing the same thing can happen, but it’s far more likely that profitable routes will be used to subsidize fares on low demand routes. BC Ferries does this. They only operate 3 or 4 profitable routes. All the others lose money, but nobody is asked to pay $1000 to get from one port to another because the fares are subsidized.
ICBC is another example of profitable customers subsidizing rates for unprofitable ones. In other jurisdictions drivers with bad driving records and those who fall into high risk categories pay significantly more than they do in BC.