Friday 6 March 2009

Fare Rises Unfair

Anger is growing following the announcement that First Great Western Trains will be reducing discounts by 10% (after a 6% fare rise only a month before): yesterday activists staged a political stunt at Reading station to protest about increases in railway ticket prices.

Here is a round-up of views: BBC, Reading Evening Post, Reading Chronicle and 107FM.

Adrian Windisch of the Green Party provides additional material, while Matt Brady says LibDem Cllr Gareth Epps accurately summed up customer feeling when he commented:
"Reading commuters already pay some of the highest fares per mile in the world, so to reduce the discount it should rightly be paying for poor performance is arrogance of the highest order."
Background: LibDem Transport spokesman on Reading Borough Council Cllr Rick Duveen expressed disgust at the unfair increases.

Update: Rob White has reprinted the press release promoting his stunt.

6 comments:

  1. It was a Green Party protest actually.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You'd rather I didn't spare your blushes?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have no idea what you mean. What happened to the other comments? Selective deleting?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Adrian, if any comments had been deleted blogger shows that they have.

    Reading List welcomes all comments and encourages discussion and debate, therefore dissenting opinions are highly valued.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your earlier comment still makes no sense to me.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Adrian, it degrades a political party for their leader to be seen struggling to gain attention by getting involved in direct action stunts, as it suggests she is not and cannot be taken seriously. Was this really the most effective use of her time?

    All the parties have made their protests about FGW in one way or another, so what difference exactly did you make on this occasion?

    ReplyDelete




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