Rail travel is being pushed out of the reach of ordinary working people.
That was the view of Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman as new rail fares came into effect.
The veteran Labour MP said hard-working commuters in Huddersfield are now paying 25% more for their train fares under the Tories, because of yet another year of rail fare hikes that come into force.
The new fare rises came into effect over the weekend, and although price increases for regulated fares was capped at inflation, at 1.1%, rail companies can raise unregulated fares as much as they like. In some parts of the country, prices for season tickets topped £2,000 for the first time.
Tens of thousands of people returned to work today after the New Year break and found fares had risen.
Action for Rail, a campaign by rail unions and the TUC, said some UK workers were spending 13% of their monthly wages on rail travel compared with 2% in Italy.
The research was published to highlight protests at more than 60 railway stations by campaigners and rail workers to mark the return to work after the festive break, with fares having increased at the weekend.
Mr Sheerman has slammed the government for hammering passengers and commuters.
He said: “Passengers in Huddersfield have been hit again and again by eye-watering rail fare rises. Fares have sky-rocketed by 25% under the Tories, far outstripping any increase in wages.
“Travelling by train isn’t a luxury, it’s how thousands of people in Huddersfield get to work every day, but under the Conservatives train travel is being put more and more out of reach.
“We need affordable travel in Huddersfield to keep people in work and attract investment to the town, but the Government’s failure to act to keep rail fares down shows that for all the patronising talk of a ‘Northern Powerhouse’ the Conservatives aren’t serious about investing in the North.
“The Government needs to end its fixation on vanity projects like HS2 and keep its eye on the ball: delivering affordable travel for, and investment in, the routes people use every day”
