We'll be hardesthit by new fares

Rail passengers in Bognor Regis will have to dig deeper in their pockets than travellers from other stations.

The cost of a Southern monthly season ticket from the town to London Victoria rises next week by 4.7 per cent. This will add 15.30 a month to the current 326.40 cost of the journey.

But passengers travelling from nearby Arundel are facing an increase of just 1.2 per cent.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Those who live in Brighton will also see the cost of their journeys increase by the same amount.

Horsham travellers '“ facing a 3.1 per cent rise '“ will be comparatively better off than those from Bognor as well.

Commuter Paul Frattaroli said travellers from Bognor were being unfairly treated in the latest round of increases. Some 2,500 rail journeys a day are made from the town.

'I feel Bognor is losing out,' said the 44-year-old museum assistant who lives in the town centre.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

'It is not fair that Bognor should have such a steep rise compared to other routes. An extra 15 a month is a big difference in the cost. Most people will not have wage rises of that percentage.

'People who travel from Brighton have much better services than those from Bognor and yet they are having a lower increase. Arundel is also only three stops from Bognor and yet the monthly season ticket from there is going up by only 3.

'I don't think a lot of people have realised this yet because the fares haven't gone up. I expect a lot more people will be annoyed when they have to pay out more.'

Mr Frattaroli said the relatively high increase in fares faced by Bognor's passengers was compounded by the fact the town had missed out on many of the benefits from Southern's timetable changes on December 9.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

'Bognor's not really benefiting much at all from the new timetable.

'The journeys from London are taking a bit longer than they used to because of all the changes. There aren't any more later trains either,' he said.

The main change to Bognor's train service under the new timetable was the introduction of a second off-peak train to London Victoria every hour during the day.

Arun Valley Rail Users' Association chairman Trevor Tupper agreed Bognor was being badly affected by the rise in fares compared to other stations.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

'Bognor has suffered a little. The town is not getting any improvement out of the timetable but is having to pay the price through the increased cost of tickets,' he said.

In contrast, Chichester's travellers faced similar rises but benefited from ten-minute quicker journeys to London Victoria.

Those journeying from Arundel and other smaller stations along the Arun Valley route had also suffered from changes in their services. It was only fair their increases should be lower to reflect that, he added

A Southern spokesman said: 'Bognor has not been singled out. The town's fares have just risen at inflation, taken from June 2007, plus one per cent.' The train operator's season tickets had gone up by an average 4.8 per cent across the region. This was also the average around the country.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He stated: 'The decision to raise fares by a certain percentage is driven by a number of factors. Market forces come very much into play, as does the history of previous increases.'

But January's rises for Southern's routes varied greatly. Fares from Uckfield would be going up 8.9 per cent against the 1.2 per cent for Arundel.

'These differing increases are usually geared to bringing prices more in line with routes of similar distances, journey times and destinations,' he added.