Bradford rail commuters hit by 6% fares rise (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Bradford rail commuters hit by 6% fares rise

6:58pm Wednesday 2nd January 2013 in News By Chris Young, T&A Reporter

Many commuters in the district now spend almost a fifth of their salary on getting to work, figures show

Many commuters in the Bradford district spend almost a fifth of their salary on getting the train to work, according to newly-released figures.

On a day when the cost of train tickets went up by more than six per cent in Yorkshire, the figures showed those hardest hit were people earning under £17,000 with daily commutes in excess of 50 minutes.

In Yorkshire, these workers can expect to spend 19 per cent of their pre-tax earnings on rail travel.

On average, commuters in the Yorkshire and Leeds region spend between 12 and 14 per cent of their wage on rail passes. The national average is eight per cent.

From yesterday, rail fares went up nationwide by an average of 4.2 per cent. But in West Yorkshire that figure was 6.2 per cent due to an agreement in 2006 to acquire extra rolling stock.

Passengers questioned whether they were getting their money’s worth from the inflation-busting rise, while rail users groups have said services do not reflect the higher than average price hike.

Figures released by global management consultancy the Hay Group show how the lowest paid are being unfairly hit. Commuting costs make up only two per cent of the income of Yorkshire’s senior managers who make journeys of 50 or more minutes.

Even lower paid workers who make shorter journeys spend a significant amount of their wages on getting to work.

Those whose journeys take between 30 and 50 minutes spend ten per cent of their annual wage on train fares, while it costs those who commute just a few miles seven per cent of their wage.

Adam Burden, consultant at Hay Group, said: “With real pay finally returning to positive growth and the jobs market beginning to pick up, organisations must take action to ensure that their top talent isn’t seduced by better offers elsewhere.

“But it isn’t all about pay. There are measures that organisations can take to help employees with the mounting ‘commuter crunch’, including flexible working, the opportunity to work from home or season ticket loans.”