Govia Thameslink: Expected 2019 fare rise branded 'unacceptable'

Great Northern passengers have reacted with fury to news of a proposed fare rise

Rail groups are calling on MPs to freeze fares on Govia Thameslink Railway services in 2019.

In a letter to MPs, they brand expected fare rises in January "a poorly timed kick in the teeth".

Representatives from 13 rail user groups on the Great Northern network say commuters have suffered "on an unprecedented scale".

The train operator has been plagued by delays since a new timetable was introduced in May.

In the months since, the groups claim GTR's performance has been "nothing short of a debacle" with just 77% of Great Northern trains arriving within five minutes of the scheduled time.

The letter states: "Against the backdrop of such poor performance, any increase in rail fares is absolutely unacceptable and is, we anticipate, likely to lead quite understandably to public demonstration."

In July, GTR announced that some passengers would receive one month's compensation for its poor performance.

But the rail groups claim that is "wholly inadequate".

Commuters across the country have faced months of delays after a new timetable was introduced in May

"To hear that once again, come January, the rail passengers which use our stations will be asked to pay an increased fare for a barely fit for purpose service is a poorly timed kick in the teeth," they said.

The groups agreed that freezing fares would be a good way for both the government and rail industry to show it was "finally listening to embattled passengers".

A spokesman for the Department for Transport - which authorises train operators' ticket prices - said it recognised that passengers have experienced "significant delays in recent months".

But they added that it was "not fair" to ask people who do not use trains to further subsidise those who do, stating that "taxpayers already contribute more than £4bn a year to the railway with 54% of our transport budget spent on the 2% of journeys that rail accounts for."

A GTR spokesman said: "We are maintaining improved reliability and punctuality on Thameslink and Great Northern since we introduced the interim timetable last month."