The UK government has announced a brutal near-record rise in rail fares of nearly 5%, prompting backlash from Labour Party members and union leaders. Alex Rowley of Scottish Labour warned that the eye-watering fare hike would hit Scots hard during a cost of living crisis and could lead to the decline of Scotland's rail service. Eddie Dempsey criticized the government for maintaining profits for private companies at the expense of the public, contributing to a wage price spiral. Lou Haigh described the fare increase as a brutal bumper rise and an insult to millions amid record delays and cancellations. The Labour Party has pledged to reform the broken railways and consider public ownership to put passengers first. Mick Lynch of the RMT union slammed the government for presiding over the managed decline of the railways and allowing private operators to pay out huge shareholder dividends. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak defended the fare increase, stating that the government has capped the increase at much less than the previous year's rise.
They scrapped the HS2 northern leg. Rail travellers face record delays and cancellations. Now they’re putting up fares by a massive amount. What is it that Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives have against railways? 🚁 🚁 🚁 🤔
A rail fares rise of nearly 5% has been described by passenger groups as “another unwelcome price hike” ✍️: @NeilLancefield https://t.co/40bpFDd2uJ
Millions of train passengers face a hike in fares of nearly 5% next year. When asked if he could have done more about the rise, Rishi Sunak said the government has capped the increase of rail fares "at much less than they went up last year". https://t.co/xItZsH7tea 📺 Sky 501 https://t.co/qm7WM6Onaa
📈Bills up 📈Mortgages up 📈Taxes up 📈Rents up And now, you’ve guessed it: 📈Rail fares up ❌Under the Tories, passengers are paying more and more for less and less. 🌹 It’s time for change. https://t.co/35qt1BYEJF
Under the Tories: ❌ Passengers are facing record delays and cancellations. 📈 Rail fares rising faster than wages. With Labour: ✅ We will bring our railways into public ownership and put passengers first. https://t.co/2NXaO8SN6F
And this was the shocking state of my train on the way home to Nottingham. Under the Tories you pay more and get less. https://t.co/JpWZyvVGUU
NEW: @RMTunion slams rail fares hike Mick Lynch says the government is presiding over the managed decline of the railways with huge cuts to safety critical infrastructure on one hand whilst allowing privatised train operators to pay out huge shareholder dividends with the other.
The longer the Tories are in power, the more passengers will pay & the worse service becomes https://t.co/xARb0UWrwY
This brutal Tory fare hike is the last thing passengers deserve to be receiving from the Government this Christmas. Labour will reform our railways by putting passengers at the heart of everything we do. https://t.co/tTilmbxTGy
The longer the Tories are in power, the more passengers will pay. https://t.co/g9c9fSqUpk
There's nothing more Christmassy than the announcement about the festive options in the LNER dining car, on a train so packed with people from other cancelled services that the idea of moving through the carriages is completely absurd.
More misery for commuters as rail fares to rise by almost 5% next year https://t.co/1IWcewH9Xq
🚨BREAKING: The Tories have just announced another brutal bumper rise in rail fares. With passengers facing record delays and cancellations and delays, this is an insult to millions. Labour will reform our broken railways and finally put passengers first. https://t.co/8Dj8ISEf7g
🚨BREAKING: The Tories have just announced another brutal near-record rise in rail fares. With passengers facing record and cancellations and delays, this is an insult to millions. Labour will reform our broken railways and finally put passengers first. https://t.co/aGbQLD7OUH
"They choose to put the fares up to keep profits going to these private companies, and they tell us we're responsible for a wage price spiral." Eddie Dempsey debunks Tory messaging on this year's rail disputes. https://t.co/uxGhJECHuM
"This eye-watering fare hike will hit Scots hard during a cost of living crisis and push Scotland's rail service into a spiral of decline."-@AlexRowleyFife https://t.co/weJv7MTmRj