Lancashire train fares set to soar

2:49pm Friday 21st November 2008

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FARES on trains in Lancashire are set to soar by well above the rate of inflation in the New Year.

From January 2, regulated fares, which include season tickets, will go up by an average of 6 per cent across the country.

On the same day, unregulated fares, which include most leisure and advanced-booked tickets, will rise by an average of 7 per cent.

Northern Rail, which operates the Manchester-Clitheroe, Colne-Blackpool and York-Blackpool lines, is raising fares by 7 per cent.

The figure is 6.4 per cent for Transpennine Express, which runs services from Manchester through Chorley, Preston and Blackpool.

Association of Train Operating Companies chief executive Michael Roberts said since 1996, overall rail fares have risen by just 5 per cent in real terms and standard-class regulated fares were actually lower than they were in the year before privatisation in the mid-1990s.

He added that the fare changes in January meant that train companies could continue to invest 'in an even better railway'.

But Anthony Smith, chief executive of customer watchdog Passenger Focus, said the rises harked back to a time of high inflation and spiralling energy costs.

He added: "The economy is different now, but the seemingly unstoppable rail-price express ploughs on."