Britain Has The Most Expensive Rail Fares in Europe Lib Dem Research Reveals

8.04.00pm GMT Mon 21st Jan 2008

UK rail fares are the most expensive in Europe

Rail travel in Britain is more expensive than anywhere else in Europe, according to research by the Liberal Democrats. The figures show that, on average, £10 will buy a ticket for 27 miles travel by train in Britain, compared with nearly 50 miles in France and 383 miles in Latvia. Six years ago, British train passengers could travel 55 miles for £10.

The figures, based on a comparison of European fares published in this year's Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable, show it costs nearly £40 to travel an average of 100 miles in Britain.

Lib Dem Shadow Secretary of State for Transport Norman Baker MP comments "Our rail fares are the most expensive in Europe and have continued to rise in real terms, while the cost of motoring is falling. Massive fare rises, like the ones we saw earlier this month, are pricing travellers off the railways. Labour ministers regard spending on the roads as investment but spending on the railways as subsidy, just as their Tory counterparts did."