Kingston commuters unhappy with rail fare increase
Kingston railway commuters have expressed their discontent over the latest UK government announcement of increasing railways fares in the New Year.
The government announced that rail fares will be expected to increase by 2.7 per cent on January 2 in an effort to improve railways services.
The announcement was made last Saturday by Rail Delivery Group chief executive Paul Plummer who said that the extra money made with the fares was allowing train companies to invest in improvements to the network, including 1000 extra services a week in 2020.
However, passengers were left rather unhappy with the train services over the last couple of years as only 47 per cent of them said that they were satisfied with the value for money of train tickets.
Retired commuter Philip Brownink said: “When I travel during the rush hour it’s not pleasant. There are no seats and you’re crushed when you’re standing up and pushed. There could definitely be an improvement.”
The railway industry has faced many problems since being privatised as passengers faced delays, strikes, overcrowding in carriages and increase in train tickets. On average, fares increased by 21 per cent since the network was privatised.
Also, according to Network Rail, only 65 per cent of trains arrived at their scheduled station within one minute of their timetable in the last 12 months.
Kingston commuter Sarah Rose, 24, said: “I take the same routes every time and it never seems to have changed. It’s always delays everywhere, especially during peak time. I always have to wait an extra 30 minutes for my train.”
While the government and the Rail delivery Group believe that the increase in fares will enable the improvement of efficiency in train services, such as reducing overcrowding, limiting delays and just improving commuters’ journeys overall, Mick Cash, general secretary of the RMT (Rail, Maritime and Transport) Union said that passengers are being “fleeced thousands of pounds every year for the privilege of travelling in crowded, unreliable services”.
Mr Brownink agreed with this statement and added: “It is clear that the government cares more about making money than the public’s safety, which in my opinion, is probably why they have never really listened to the people’s complaints about the rail fare increase.”
Some commuters proposed ideas that, in their opinion, would increase the level of railway satisfaction of train travellers. One idea came from Mr Brownink, who believes that passengers would be happier with the service if the government made all the people who do not travel by train pay for the services.
Another idea was given by Maria Gomez who said: “In a station like Kingston, there should be more entrances because this place overcrowds quite fast.”
The government has been increasing rail fares every year, and every year more and more people are unhappy with the decision leaving them with no hope for the railways industry.
0 Comments Add a Comment?