MP tables motion in Parliament calling for plans to hike rail fares to be scrapped

South Lakes MP Tim Farron will table a motion in the House of Commons this week, calling on the Government to shelve plans for a 3.2% rise in rail ticket prices in the New Year.

Tim is joining calls from three former Conservative ministers, Grant Shapps, Michael Fallon and Tim Loughton, for the Department for Transport to freeze fares for 2019.

Passengers in South Cumbria have experienced a year of mass disruption on local train lines, including every single train on the Lakes Line being cancelled for the whole month of June.

Over the past 10 years, rail fares in the UK have risen by 42%.

Tim said: “After a year of unprecedented chaos on our railways, it simply beggars belief that fed up passengers are being forced by Chris Grayling to cough up even more money.

“People are already essentially paying first class ticket prices for fifth rate services-why should they continue to pay more and more for a service that is simply getting worse and worse?

“I’m tabling a motion in Parliament so that MPs from across the political divide are able to send a loud and clear message to the Government that these outrageous plans must be binned.”