I WRITE to draw readers’ attention to significant increases in rail fares on the West Coast Main Line and to Carlisle MP John Stevenson’s apparent lack of interest in this matter.
Most weekends, for work/family reasons, either my partner or myself travel between Carlisle and London. When Avanti took over the West Coast Main Line franchise from Virgin Trains, we noticed a significant rise in fares, with a yet further increase following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.
Even with a cheaper “Advance” ticket, a fare for a Friday/Sunday return journey between Carlisle and London Euston is now regularly in excess of £100.
Remarkably, the fare for a journey between Newcastle and Kings Cross on the East Coast line with LNER is often around half the price of an equivalent West Coast journey with Avanti.
And which MP chairs the West Coast Main Line All Party Parliamentary Group, while these fares go through the roof? It’s actually Carlisle’s very own Conservative MP John Stevenson. I can best describe Mr Stevenson’s replies to my correspondence on this matter as perfunctory; I still await a reply to a letter sent to him in mid-September, for example.
While Mr Stevenson enjoys a second job and his partner works for him (source: theyworkforyou.com), constituents are left to absorb the costs of the rail franchising system.
Avanti West Coast has a monopoly on rail journeys between Cumbria and the capital – whatever happened to the Tory mantra of “competition is good for the consumer” Mr Stevenson? Will you ever show the remotest concern over Avanti’s exploitation of its Cumbrian passengers?
Mike Brown
Knowe Road, Carlisle
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