Hike in rail fares is a kick in the teeth for workers

ALL our main political parties are paying lip service to the importance of controlling the cost of living.

Commuters must be starting to wonder why they bother with the daily grind Commuters must be starting to wonder why they bother with the daily grind

So news that rail fares are yet again to rise well ahead of the general rate of inflation is both baffling and outrageous.

If Britain is to rebuild its economy over the long term then work must be made to pay.

Yet putting up train fares by an average of 4.1 per cent is another kick in the teeth for hard-pressed and demoralised commuters, many of whom have barely had a pay rise for years.

Only a country with an economic death wish would allow travel-to-work costs to eat into the living standards of full-time workers for seven years in a row.

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All but the highest-paid commuters must by now be wondering why they bother with the daily grind.

Yet taxpayers still handsomely subsidise the railways so it is a mystery where all the money goes. The suspicion is that rail franchise holders, especially foreign ones, are taking far too much out of the system.

In recent weeks there have been encouraging signs of an economic upturn. It is hardly unreasonable for millions of workers to believe the time has come for them to experience some of the benefit of that in the form of extra money in their pockets.

Ministers should be warned. The patience of Middle Britain is wearing very thin.

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