Yellow Advertiser, 14th December 2005 by Steve Neale

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Weekday, off peak worst hit

Rail fares are to rise by 22 per cent on some Southend services from January.

The hike comes amid claims from company c2c that it needs more commuter cash to invest on the network.

The worst hit is the weekday, off-peak Travelcard into London. The fare will rise from £14 to £17.20 - a whopping 22.9 percent rise.

Peak time tickets including season tickets, Travelcard season tickets and standard day returns from Southend will rise by 7.3 percent.

To ease the pain for travellers, c2c has lowered the cost of weekend Travelcards by 20 percent.

A c2c spokesman said: "Our biggest off-peak market base is at weekend, so the vast majority of leisure customers will see a real reduction in their fares."

Rail watchdog groups still condemned the overall rises, insisting they were too high.

Anthony Smith, chief executive of The Rail Passenger Council, said the inflation-busting price hikes were a disappointing early Christmas present for passengers.

He added: "The rail industry is going to have to work hard to demonstrate that these rises represent value for money. many walk0on fares are now at eye watering levels."

The council will be carrying out extensive research early next year to better understand passenger views on the new ticketing fees.

The c2c line has seen £5.5 million of investment in the last year.

Improvements include a £1 million station building at Pitsea and £500,000 improvements at Barking.

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