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Rail fares set to rise by 6.2%

Commuters in England face 6.2% rise in average train fares after a shock increase in the Retail Prices Index measure of inflation. Cars, air fares, clothing and housing are being blamed for the surprise rise in the Consumer Prices Index of inflation.

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We can't 'pass on the cost' of rail improvement to commuters

Julian Huppert, co-chairman of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party Committee on Transport, has blamed the current high price of rail tickets in the UK on the previous Labour Government. He said:

The coalition is, quite rightly, investing more in our railways than any Government since the Victorian era in an effort to sort out the mess we inherited. But we can't just pass on the cost to commuters. Liberal Democrats in the coalition, along with the Transport Secretary, managed to negotiate an RPI-plus-1% fare rise for 2012, much lower than planned by some Conservatives. But people are struggling to make ends meet against a backdrop of wage freezes and rising utility bills.

– Julian Huppert, liberal democrats

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