Nigel Evans, Member of Parliament for the Ribble Valley, has lambasted rising rail prices. His comments come after the franchise system, whereby train companies negotiate a contract with the Department of Transport to run trains on a particular line, has been criticised by the Transport Select Committee for allowing and even encouraging operators to take passengers for granted.Mr Evans said “The present ticket system is overly complicated and outrageously overpriced. Rail companies point to the fact that cheap fares are obtainable if you book in advance but that simply is not very practical a lot of the time. “Those people who cannot say for definite at what time they will need to travel are being severely penalised. That has lead to a situation whereby the majority of passengers are simply not receiving value for money. “The Government and the rail companies need to take a long hard look at the Committee’s report. It is a situation that must be resolved quickly or people will simply stop traveling by trains altogether.” |