Pay 20% more to be Greener

11.14.14am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 22nd May 2007

Martin Tod, Winchester Lib Dem campaigner and Lib Dem City Cllrs, John Higgins, Karen Barratt, David Spender what Fares to be Fair

South West Trains finally introduced their nearly 20% off-peak fare increase on Monday for off-peak travellers from Winchester arriving in London between 10 a.m. and 12 noon, but local campaigners were at the station continuing their fight against the increase.

Winchester Liberal Democrat Martin Tod was one of the campaigners.

"These increases make no sense at a time when we need to be encouraging people to use trains and reducing carbon emissions. We were at the station from 8.30 handing out leaflets to local travellers explaining how they can contact South West Trains, the Secretary of State for Transport and the Rail Regulator to lobby them to get the fare increase reversed. We also included some tips on how to legally avoid paying the full fare."

Winchester MP, Mark Oaten, and Eastleigh MP, Chris Huhne, have also put forward an Early Day Motion in Parliament condemning the increase.

Fares from stations where South West Trains face competition, such as Reading and Basingstoke, have been increase by less than 2%.

Mark Oaten MP commented:

"This is a clear abuse by South West Trains' of their monopoly position. They are only hiking up fares where they don't have competition. Our fares are already the most expensive in Europe. Further price hikes are the last thing we need."

Winchester Liberal Democrats have also launched a website where people can sign a petition opposing the increase and find out more about how to oppose it at http://www.faresfair.org.uk.