8 Conclusion
147. The Government famously now invests £87
million per week in the railways.[159]
This level of public subsidy is given in recognition of the fact
that the railways are a vital public service. The subsidy places
an obligation on those who manage the railway to run it as a public
service, and the railways should also be managed so that they
support important economic, environmental and social objectives
of the Government.
148. Despite the unprecedented level of investment,
neither passengers nor tax payers get value for money. The current
system has had more than a decade to prove its worth, but in terms
of value for money and user-friendliness it has proven to be an
abject failure. Fares structures are chaotic and pricing absurd
because they are determined by commercial considerations rather
than considerations for the public good and the value for money
of passengers and tax payers. This is not acceptable, and the
current system is not fit for purpose. If the Government is committed
to the railway, it must at the very least use regulation
to ensure that passengers get value not only for their own money,
but also for the subsidy contributed by the taxpayer every year.
149. The Government has done some good work in
terms of investment and the renewal of infrastructure of the railways
in recent years, but it has failed to honour its obligation to
passengers and tax-payers alike to ensure that the railways are
affordable and user-friendly, that all passengers get
good value for money when travelling by train. Although rail operators
face competition from other transport modes, they usually operate
as monopolies on individual rail routes. Both the Government and
the industry are happy to draw parallels with the no-frills airline
sector, and to see the booking systems and pricing structures
of that sector take hold in the rail industry. But the railways
are not like no-frills airlines, and neither should they become
like airlines. Passengers use the railway for a much wider variety
of journeys and situations than they would flights, and the railways
are part of the country's fundamental and essential infrastructure
for domestic travel. This is not a free market, and the Government
must flex its muscles to ensure that passengers get a fair deal.
It must ensure that a proper robust framework of regulation of
fares is maintained, and there is an urgent need for the Office
of Rail Regulation (ORR) to be granted better and clearer powers
to pursue exorbitant or unfair pricing by train operating companies.
150. We are astonished at the complacency and
lack of strategic thinking displayed by a Government who have
accepted all too readily a privatised railway which has put revenue
and profit before passengers over the past decade. The railways
need strategy and strong leadership, something which only the
Government can provide. The abolition of the Strategic Rail Authority
and the assumption by the Government of direction over rail policy
and financing was a good first step. But more needs to be done.
It is imperative that the Government now wakes up to its responsibilities
and starts to rectify the current vacuum by incorporating a coherent
policy on fares and ticketing structures into its forthcoming
White Paper on Rail.
159 HC 1057-i, Q 183:Mr Derek Twigg MP, Parliamentary
Under-Secretary of State for Transport. 19 April 2006. Back
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