The Mayor needs to check his rise in travelcards

We get annoyed at this time of the year when Transport for London, run by Mayor Boris, puts up the price of many travel tickets.

It was good to see Caroline Pidgeon AM, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, welcoming the news that from January 2014 the average regulated train fare will now go up by only 3.1% instead of the planned 4.1%. Certainly Caroline Pigeon and the Liberal Democrats have campaigned for prices to be held down when other household bills are rising.

Councillor Andrew Steed campaigning for better services

For many years London residents who rely on train services, along with many commuters from outer London, have faced incredibly painful  fare rises. At a time when people’s finances are under so much pressure even a rise by the rate of inflation is still hard for people to deal with, but it is at least a step in the right direction.

After this check on regulated train fares the Mayor must now explain why he is boasting about ‘freezing’ fares when in reality on Tuesday he pushed up the price of travelcards by inflation plus 1 per cent from next year. This is disingenuous.

Following Coalition Government intervention, Boris Johnson must now bring down Travelcard fare rises to no more than inflation!