Residents of Bath and the surrounding areas will be facing higher costs to travel around the country by train, after First Great Western win a contract to provide the West Coast railway services from previous provider Virgin Rail.
The Virgin Rail bid was lost to continue running the West Coast Mainline and familiar South-West FirstGroup will take on the franchise from 9th December this year with the contract ending in 2026.
News that inflation increased during July has also affected the way Bath commuters will travel by train as the Retail Price Index (RPI), which gauges how rail fares are calculated, was higher than expected at 3.2%.
This will lead to an average increase of rail fares by around 6.2% with season and saver tickers affected.
The Campaign For Better Transport has said that a Bath to Bristol season ticket will rise by around £87 in January to £1487, and will increase another £200 by 2015.
Stephen Joseph, from the campaign, told the BBC that rail fares could rise three times faster than salaries if the government sticks to its policy.
“With the economy flatlining, this is untenable. The government knows they can’t continue to hit commuters – that’s why they’ve postponed the fuel duty increase,” he said.
FirstGroup said it would “offer substantial improvements in the quality and frequency of services“.
