Huge hikes in the cost of Tyne and Wear Metro tickets have been branded “insulting” to passengers who have endured months of major disruption.
It emerged on Thursday that Metro fares could increase by up to 13.9% from April 1, under plans due to be signed off by councillors next week. The massive increases have been blamed on spiralling running costs, including a high voltage power bill of more than £20m, though there is some reprieve as passengers who sign up for a Pop Pay as You Go card will have their fares frozen for the second year running.
But after a catalogue of line closures, reduced timetables, and delays over recent months, the thought of paying substantially more to travel on the Metro will be unpalatable for some. The Sort Out The Metro group told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that regular travellers hit worst by the recent disruption “are now going to end up paying significantly more for a service they are unable to use a lot of the time”.
Read More: Tyne and Wear Metro set for whopping ticket fare hike as passengers face rise of up to 13.9%
While welcoming the Pop card freeze and admitting that ticket hikes are “understandable” given the inflation crisis, the group added that passengers “really need to see a reliable service for the money we are paying”. Campaigner Kevin Dickinson said: “Metro just isn’t delivering for passengers at the moment.”
Metro services between Pelaw and South Shields finally reopened in December after a three-month shutdown for upgrade works, while a fire at a sub-station in Pallion has stopped trains on the network’s Sunderland line running beyond Park Lane and restricted that section of the network to a 24-minute service. Passengers travelling from the Sunderland area have also been left without any Metro trains during national rail strike days and the city’s main railway station has closed several times due to flooding and staff shortages.
Sunderland Lib Dem councillor Stephen O’Brien called on members of the North East Joint Transport Committee to reject the fare rise “until they can guarantee a decent Metro service for Sunderland”. He said: “For transport bosses to inflict huge price hikes on Metro users who have had to put up with such a shoddy service in Sunderland beggars belief.”
Coun O’Brien also raised concerns about older or more vulnerable people who do not use a Pop card or app being disproportionately penalised by the rise in cost of paper tickets.
Newcastle Lib Dem Thom Campion called the price hikes a “kick in the teeth for residents” grappling with the cost of living crisis and “frankly insulting”. He added: “If we’re serious about getting more people on to the Metro, we should be cutting prices, not putting them up."
Vicki Gilbert, chair of Tyne and Wear Public Transport Users Group, said: "Obviously fare rises on the Metro are unwelcome at a time when household budgets are squeezed and we need to be attracting more people onto public transport. We do, however, understand the financial pressures that Nexus are under due to lack of central government funding for our vital Metro system.”
Proposals that could be approved next Thursday would see the cost of paper Metro tickets increase by between 8.8% and 13.9% depending on what zones they cover. The maximum cost of a single journey would rise from £3.90 to £4.30, a day ticket from £5.70 to £6.20, a weekly pass from £24 to £24.40, and a four-week ticket from £81.30 to £90.20.
Metro operator Nexus said the fare increase was “inevitable” and the levels put forward are “the best we can do in difficult times”. Customer services director Huw Lewis commented: "Metro is a public service with no profit margin to fall back on - every penny raised in fares goes towards operating the system. We can't run trains if we don't pay the electricity bill, so it is inevitable overall fares need to rise this year.
"Despite this, our proposals mean that we will be among very few, if any, train operators to offer thousands of customers a price freeze, for the second year in row. If you have Pop on Google Pay or a free Pop Pay As You Go card from nexus.org then your fares will be frozen at 2021 prices. If you now buy paper tickets from machines but switch to Pop you can save more than £1 a day, from day one.
"We have also capped weekly season ticket price rises well below inflation because we recognise these are used by the lowest-paid commuters. This is the best we can do in difficult times, but I believe it is a fair deal we have put forward."
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