It appears that the cost of petrol is beginning to benefit the environment.
As a former South Londoner, and a non-driver, I had been fairly reliant on Go-Ahead, the holder of the rail franchises for Southern and Southeastern trains. Despite the usual moaning, I'd always found them to be pretty reliable, and it appears that I'm not the only one who's been convinced.
Yesterday, Go-Ahead announced that passengers numbers were up by approximately 6.5%, an impressive amount indeed. They aren't cheap, but given the marginal costs of driving these days, many have little alternative but to switch from car to train.
My concern is that the rail franchises will take advantage of an opportunity to raise prices and make more profit, a typically short term view, and one that risks driving people back to their cars. As the price of crude oil drops back towards the $100 per barrel mark, the likelihood that the purely economic logic of a switch to public transport ebbs away increases.
An argument is often made that cutting tax rates increases tax take. It seems likely that the same logic applies to the cost of a rail season ticket. So, how about cutting the cost of a season ticket, if only in real terms, gentlemen?
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