National Express Backs Government's Possible Rail Fare Rise

National Express has entered the debate over rail fares by backing the government's consideration of ticket prices as part of a drive to cut the state's £5bn subsidy of the railways.

National Express' Chief Executive, Dean Finch, said that the government was right to warn passengers that it might scrap the fares cap that limits price increases to RPI + 1%. This follows a comment made by the Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond, saying that the formula could be sacrificed in the autumn spending review.

Mr Finch said "It is absolutely legitimate for anybody to look at, in terms of raising revenues. Everybody complains about rail fares being awful, but we have more than 1bn journeys on the railways every year. That tells you that in the overall scheme of things the railway is an effective form of travel and is an integral part of people's lives."

It is unlikely that Mr Finch's comments will find much support amongst the travelling public.