Harpenden commuters have faced ticket bombshell

Revealed: Harpenden commuters have faced £820 ticket bombshell since 2019 as Lib Dems pledge to freeze rail fares

• Liberal Democrats announce manifesto commitment to freeze rail fares next year, saving commuters from Harpenden a £149 rise in ticket prices

• Victoria Collins, Parliamentary Candidate for Harpenden & Berkhamsted, warns that commuters have “borne the brunt of Conservative chaos” and are now “paying more for a worse service”

The Liberal Democrats have announced a manifesto commitment to freeze rail fares next year, saving commuters from £115 million in fare hikes across the country.

It comes as analysis by the party reveals rail season ticket holders in Harpenden have forked out an extra £820 in rail fares since 2019.

In Harpenden, a season ticket to London now costs a whopping £4,792, up from £3,972 in 2019.

The Liberal Democrat proposals would save commuters in Harpenden an average of £149 next year. 

The policy, which would cost £115m next year, would be funded through a clampdown on tax avoidance and evasion. Uncollected taxes under the Conservatives currently stand at a staggering £35.8bn a year. 

These price rises come in the face of rising cancellations. A Liberal Democrat FOI has revealed that last year 55,829 rush hour trains were either partly or fully cancelled. This was a 10% rise on the previous year and the worst of any year since 2019.

The Liberal Democrats have said that passengers should not be paying more for a worse service and that commuters need to be protected from the Conservative party’s neglect of the railways through a price freeze on fares. Liberal Democrats have also pledged to reform the broken fares system by the end of the next parliament. 

Victoria Collins, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Harpenden & Berkhamsted, said:

“We need to urgently freeze rail fares."

“Commuters across our community have borne the brunt of Conservative chaos, with the price of train tickets soaring whilst services have gotten worse. 

“During a cost of living crisis, it is disgraceful that everyday passengers are having to pay more for trains which are increasingly delayed or cancelled.

“That is why a vote for Harpenden & Berkhamsted’s Liberal Democrats is a vote to help commuters keep more of their hard-earned money.”