After a busy day canvassing, I decided to visit some friends and purchased some diesel in a service station just outside the Bridgend constituency. The price? A ridiculous £1.39 a litre.
This should be enough to get even the most car dependent family to consider rail use. However, Arriva Trains Wales have significantly increased their prices well above the rate of inflation. The ConDem coalition have increased the cost of season tickets across the UK by almost 6% (so much for David Cameron’s green credentials), but even more alarmingly, Arriva Trains Wales have increased rail travel in Bridgend by almost 10%
A season ticket for use between Bridgend and Cardiff has increased from £732 to £804, while the cost of a day ticket from Bridgend to Cardiff will increase from £5.40 to £5.90. Meanwhile, passengers have not seen any improvements to the quality of the service.
This is why I believe Plaid Cymru’s proposal to put the management of Welsh railways in the hands of a ‘not for profit’ company following the end of the ATW franchise would be extremely desirable to passengers and the Welsh economy.
Instead of extended profits for ATW, more money could be made available to invest in rail travel across Wales with additional services linking Bridgend with the nearby Valleys and major cities.
While this may reduce car dependency, some isolated communities in Wales, will always depend on the car. For some, fuel is a price elastic commodity. No matter what the cost in fuel duty, some people will reluctantly pay the cost.
With the UK governments increase in fuel duty and VAT, I am strongly in favour of a fuel regulator. This would ensure the price at the pump would reflect the fluctuation in crude oil. In essence, when the price of oil increases or the level of VAT increases, the level of fuel tax would decrease.