Commenting on the recent announcement of yet another rise in rail fares Roger said: “The history of year on year increases in the price of tickets and the prospect of these increases carrying on for a number of years in the future is already intolerable for rail travellers. All this of course set against the background of rising profits for the train operating companies and the reduction in opening hours at ticket offices accompanied by reductions in staffing levels and guards on trains.”
He went on to say: “We must be the only country in Europe that seeks to price travellers ‘off the railways’ as capacity fails to keep up with rising demand. Rail passenger numbers have been quoted as being as high as they were in the heyday of the railways in 1926 yet ridiculously, the train operating companies are considering even further rises on the most popular routes to deter travellers.
Commenting on the Coalitions continued persistence with the HS2 Project Roger said: “Many people don’t have any choice other than to travel by rail and they will see continued deficiencies in the provision of new and up-to-date rolling stock and much needed extensions to station platforms to accommodate more carriages potentially go without remedy for one huge massive vanity project which will cut 30 minutes of the journey time from London to Birmingham.”
Roger has written a letter to Patrick McLoughlin MP, Secretary of State for Transport, asking him to seriously reconsider the Coalitions approach to rail travel.

This article appeared in the January edition of Roger's newsletter 'Postcard from Parliament'