Folkestone Faces the £4,000 Rail Fare

12.31.00pm GMT Wed 2nd Jan 2008

Commuters from Folkestone stations to London today faced a price hike moving the cost of an annual season ticket with travel card to a staggering £4,000. The Southeastern price rise took effect on 2nd January - the first working day of the New Year.

Fares for all other tickets including standard fares have also seen an inflation busting rise. A non-Travelcard weekly Season ticket prices to London Folkestone Central has risen from £79.50 for 2007 to £87.00 in 2008. Southeastern's regulated fares (e.g. season tickets, standard returns) will increase by an average of 6.8 per cent. Southeastern's average unregulated fare (e.g. cheap day return) increase is still an inflation-busting 4.8 per cent.

The rise comes on the same day that due to a waste depot fire in the New Cross area, all services going into and out of London Bridge station were suspended.

Shepway Lib Dem Council Group Leader Lynne Beaumont said:

"Its an extraordinary price to pay for a still very ordinary service, Trains still take around 100 minutes to get to London - it's faster to get from London to Birmingham than London to Folkestone! We've still got almost 2 years to wait until high-speed services are introduced in December 2009 - but have to pay super-fares now.

"Commuters are returning to work only to face massive fare hikes and overcrowding. We already have the most expensive rail fares in Europe with rail travellers facing further inflation-busting price rises."

Commenting further, Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary, Norman Baker MP said:

"Passengers are being forced off the railways because of hugely expensive tickets. This is yet another sign that the Government's rail policy is failing.

"Under Labour the cost of motoring has actually fallen, while the cost of using the trains has gone through the roof."