Cheap rail fares for all, urge MPs; Why are cut-price tickets mainly on internet?

Byline: PETERWOODMAN

IT IS "unacceptable" that low rail fares are mainly found on the internet, a report by MPs said.

A government promise to bring 1,300 new carriages into service by 2014 looks "over-optimistic," the report by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee added.

There is a risk that some train companies could fail as their revenues fall, but the Government should hold companies to their financial commitments, the committee said.

It added that the Department for Transport (DfT) "did not consider the damaging side-effects for passengers" from its rail franchising policy.

The Department set requirements for service frequency and punctuality but not for measuring the impact of rising car parking charges, complex fares and overcrowding.

The report said: "It is unacceptable that low-cost fares, which should be available to all rail passengers, are most readily found by those with access to the internet.

"This approach undermines the whole basis of the railways as a public service available to all. It excludes those people without access to the internet, without the time to search or who decide to travel at short notice." The report went on: "The Department's promises of bringing 1,300 new rail carriages into service by 2014 look over-optimistic.

"There are only 423on order so far, and another 150carriages are the subject of negotiations.

"It takes 30 to 36 months to mobilise the supply chain, suggesting deliveries running into 2011-2012for the current work in progress." The report said some train companies might ask the DfT to "relax their contractual obligations".

"The Department should hold train operators to their contract terms although, in some cases, including National Express's bid for the East Coast franchise, the original bid might have included over-optimistic revenue assumptions..