Better Transport

We're fighting to bring train fares down because:

• Fares are too high
• High fares are keeping people off the train
• Greater train use: Less CO2, less noise, less local air pollution
• There are realistic ways to reduce fares
• People support this call 

Fares are too high
UK train fares are the highest in Europe. The Government is responsible: it regulates 60% of train fares and allows them to rise 1% above inflation every year. Unregulated train fares can rise even further. Fares keep rising because the Government is cutting its contribution to the railways and making passengers pay more.

Since 1997, train fares have risen in real terms by 7% while the cost of motoring has fallen by 13% and the price of one-way flights from UK airports has, on average, halved.

These trends are making it harder for people to cut their carbon footprint. For example, on a trip from London to Edinburgh, the plane is often cheaper than the train, even though it is eight times worse for the climate. It is often cheaper to drive than take the train, even though it can be four times worse for the climate.

While the Government increases train fares, it gives planes a £10 billion tax break every year.

High fares are keeping people off the train
People keep telling us that they need affordable train fares .

High fares are pricing people off our railways and pushing them back into cars and planes. We’ve published research which shows that reducing rail fares today by 20% (to around the European average) could increase rail travel by 17% by 2015.

Greater train use: Less CO2, less noise, less local air pollution
When people take the train instead of driving or flying, it means less CO2, traffic, noise and pollution. Encouraging more people to take the train would be better for everyone.

We’ve published research (PDF) which shows that cutting bus and rail fares and increasing motoring and aviation taxation could cut carbon emissions by 13%. It would reduce demand for short haul flights, and reduce the need for damaging airport expansion. Congestion and traffic levels on our roads would fall because more people would take public transport instead of driving.

There are realistic ways to reduce fares
We’re campaigning for the Government to cut train fares and introduce a fuel tax on domestic flights. This would make it easier for people to switch from plane to train.

We’re not asking for more public spending: taxing fuel on domestic flights at the same rate as motoring fuel tax would raise around £460 million a year – enough to make up for revenue lost through train fare cuts, and boost capacity where trains are already crowded.

A fuel tax on domestic flights that increases the price of air travel by 50% would cut carbon emissions by 1 million tonnes a year, helping the Government to meet its commitments in the Climate Change Act.

People support this call
Many people want to take the train instead of driving or flying, but the Government’s policy of increasing fares is making it harder for them. People want low-carbon transport to be cheaper and high-carbon transport to be more expensive. Trains should be cheaper than planes. It’s only fair.

We work to make public transport a great alternative to cars and planes. We know that cost is a big barrier to people using trains and buses, though not the only one.