2009 press releases

15th May: Cost of trains and buses has skyrocketed under Labour government: Norman Baker

Lewes MP Norman Baker has released figures showing that the cost of bus and train fares has shot up in the past 12 years, while motoring and aviation are now cheaper in real terms than they were in 1997.

The figures - available here - show that train fares have risen by 7% since 1997, while coach and bus fares have risen by 17% in real terms in the same period. Train passengers in the Lewes constituency were most recently hit by a 6% increase in the price of fares - well above the rate of inflation - in January 2009.

While passengers in areas such as Lewes users pay more and more, the price of environmentally unfriendly modes of transport such as aviation and private cars continue to decline. There has been a 49% decrease in real terms in the price of a one-way air fare, and a 13% reduction in the price of motoring, since 1997.

Lib Dem Norman Baker commented:

"These figures demonstrate that the current government simply cannot be trusted to protect the environment. There has been a total lack of action to encourage people to use more sustainable methods of transport.

"While the government is happy to take passengers' money from increasing fares, it is far less interested in providing an improved service. There has been a desperate lack of investment in rolling stock, while lines such as Lewes - Uckfield remain closed thanks to a lack of government support.

"It is clear that the current government simply don't care about train and bus passengers in areas such as East Sussex. It must act now to reverse these worrying trends so that there is an incentive to use public transport, and to prevent rail and bus passengers from being used to support more polluting modes of transport."

|Home

|Issues

|Press

|Norman and his work

|Useful Links

|Contact Norman

|Site map and Search

|Norman's flickr page

|Norman's Facebook page

|National LibDem site