BRUCE SLAMS ECML PRICE HIKE
November 17, 2009 12:00 AM
Malcolm has expressed his anger after the news that some fares on the nationalised East Coast Main Line will rise by 5% in the New Year
Gordon MP Malcolm Bruce has expressed his anger after the announcement that some fares on the nationalised East Coast Main Line (ECML) will rise by 5% in the New Year.
Mr Bruce, who has called on the Government to maintain services to and from Aberdeen now that ECML has been nationalised, was speaking after the Chairman of the state-owned company currently running the east coast line confirmed over the weekend that the decision of the previous operator to increase fares from 1 January 2010 would not be reversed.
The cost of some off-peak advance tickets is set to increase by between 3% and 5%, despite a deflationary economic environment that saw the retail price index at -1.4% in September.
Commenting, Mr Bruce said:
'Unfair and excessive ticket pricing is one of the issues that the Government should be using this period of public ownership to try and address. With this announcement they have made the worst possible start.
'National Express proposed these price hikes at a time when they were desperately seeking to raise funds to meet their financial obligations to the Department for Transport. Now that the line is under state control it seems absurd that officials should be seeking to follow through with these plans.
'We need a national rail service that is genuinely competitive with air and car travel.'
ENDS
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