Rises in travel costs for commuters have been widely reported in the National Press.  These increases will impact a huge number of contractors who travel on a daily basis to their client’s sites.

Responding to today’s rail fare rises, Campaign for Better Transport’s public transport campaigner Sophie Allain said:

“Yet another round of above inflation fare rises mean rail passengers face an unhappy New Year when they go back to work tomorrow. We already have the most expensive fares in Europe . This year's rises are bad enough but Government plans to increase fares by three per cent above inflation in 2013 and 2014 take us further and further away from the value for money rail system that we need. An affordable rail network helps to keep congestion down, reduces pollution, and supports the economy.”

The Campaign for Better Transport has also shown the disparity between the UK and other European Countries by comparing the cost of commuting using a multi-modal season annual ticket into five European capital cities from a commuter town approximately 23 miles from the capital:

 •    Woking to London , £3,268
•    Ballancourt-sur-Essonne to Paris , £924.66
•    Strausberg to Berlin , £705.85
•    Collado-Villalba to Madrid , £653.74
•    Velletri to Rome , £336.17

 Although many press articles have concentrated on the increase in costs in South East, a more comprehensive list of increases is available here for regional routes.

It would appear that commuters in the UK are getting a raw deal when it comes to travel to and from work especially when private car useage is being discouraged and public transport is, in many cases inefficient, uncomfortable and dirty.

For more information please visit Campaign for Better Transport’s website