Affordable fares offered by continental rail travel

21 April 2005

The fares of rail travel on the East Coast direction are more expensive than the similar routes in Belgium and France by three folds.

According to the RMT union, the route to Scotland from London requires higher ticket fare per mile than the Lincolnshire and Yorkshire routes.

Rail Company GNER, however, downplayed the statistics revealed by RMT union. The rail company said the union only used the most expensive fares to compare with the lowest fares of other routes.

GNER stressed that the off-peak rates of rail fares were cheaper when pitted against the railways in France or Belgium.

The RMT union blamed the expensive rail fares of GNER to the fact that the latter had to pay £1 billion to the Treasury for their decade-long franchise.

General Secretary of RMT Bob Crow said that the only way that GNER could pay their debt was to increase their fare rates.

GNER spokesperson John Gelson insisted that the facts stated by RMT were inaccurate and false.

According to the date presented by RMT, the regular one-way route from London to York costs £70. In Belgium and France, on the other hand, the similar route costs only £22.68 and £22.25, respectively.

GNER rebutted the arguments stated by RMT union. The rail company said that the union only used the most expensive rail fares that are only used during the peak season.

GNER said that they offer discounts and more affordable ticket prices during off-season, which the union failed to use in their analysis. Look out for exhibition stands at rail-related corporate events, or follow the link to design your own.