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At the end of the worst year for rail disruption in a decade, commuters in England and Wales will start the New Year paying 3.1 per cent more for train tickets – without any certainty that services will improve. Train fares will rise from 2 January 2019 fractionally less than the July 2018 calculation of the Retail Price Index (RPI), which was 3.2 per cent. This largely discredited measure of inflation is used to specify the increase in “regulated” rail fares. These are season tickets in the London area, Anytime tickets around major cities and many Off-Peak return tickets on long-distance journeys.

More seriously I heard the RDG man on the radio this morning trying to explain/defend the rise, shame the the organ grinder was sent and not the monkey.

First, strikes... now rail fare rises: Transport Secretary Chris Grayling blames union pay demands as train companies reveal New Year increases

Train fares are set to be increased today, with Transport Secretary Chris Grayling (seen today) blaming the union demands for inflation-busting pay rises for rail staff

Train fares are set to be increased today, with Transport Secretary Chris Grayling (seen today) blaming the union demands for inflation-busting pay rises for rail staff

Train fares are set to be increased today, with Transport Secretary Chris Grayling blaming the union demands for inflation-busting pay rises for rail staff.

The rail industry will announce how much ‘unregulated’ fares, such as advance and first-class tickets, will go up by in January.

The new prices, to be introduced on websites including National Rail Enquiries from 7am, will provoke anger among commuters, who have endured years of fare rises, strikes and deteriorating service.

The Rail Delivery Group, which represents train companies and Network Rail, will also reveal how much the average train fare will go up by.

This includes both unregulated fares, which are set by train operators, and regulated fares such as season tickets for commuters which are set by the Government in line with July’s Retail Prices Index measure of inflation.

Passengers have already been told that the cost of regulated fares will rise by up to 3.2 per cent in January, adding hundreds of pounds to the cost of many season tickets. The overall average price hike is market sensitive and was not disclosed last night.

The prospect of more increases has reopened a row between the Government and union bosses, who continue to demand steep pay rises for their members.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport Union, which has orchestrated crippling strikes across the country, is refusing to ditch the higher measure of RPI of inflation as a starting point for pay negotiations, despite the fact it has been widely discredited.

In August, Mr Grayling urged unions to switch to the official CPI measure of inflation, but union bosses have refused to negotiate and instead threatened to stage more protests if pay curbs are imposed.

Huw Merriman, a Tory MP and member of the Commons transport committee, said last night: ‘It cannot be right that the rail unions receive a higher wage based on RPI when most passengers, who fund these pay deals, only get pay rises using the lower CPI.

‘If the unions are really serious about limiting fare rises, they should accept the same method for setting pay which their passengers are limited to, rather than threatening more strike misery.’  An insult to train passengers: On the day Network Rail is savaged for worst punctuality in 15 years, ex-boss gets a CBE (and insists on no publicity)

Network Rail boss used to earn £820,000 a year as boss of infrastructure firm
There were fury among passengers when he was awarded a CBE this year

He picked up the award at the Palace today but asked that he not be pictured 

The former boss of Network Rail was honoured at Buckingham Palace yesterday – on the day the firm was rebuked for failing to deliver a ‘punctual and reliable’ service.

Mark Carne received a CBE from Prince William only two hours after the industry regulator savaged Network Rail for ‘systemic’ failings and issued an order for it to improve ‘urgently’.

Mr Carne, who took early retirement from his £820,000-a-year job in July, collected his honour under a self-imposed media blackout – refusing to allow pictures of his big moment to be made public.

Labour MP John Mann said: ‘It’s no wonder Mr Carne is so embarrassed about receiving this award.

‘Commuters will be shaking their heads, as will staff in the rail industry. They are fed up of the chaos and bad management.

‘Passengers will have been expecting this award to have been cancelled like so many of their trains

And say the same thing every year.

I predict there will be a sweetener from the Government. Possibly as a 'good news' story to deflect from the ongoing Brexit omnishambles.

I predict there will be a sweetener from the Government. Possibly as a 'good news' story to deflect from the ongoing Brexit omnishambles.