Article here, also as being featured as one of the main stories on BBC news broadcasts this morning with Chris Grayling appearing.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45191501 :
Quote from BBC article, linked to above:
What could the potential implications of this be if this suggestion is serious and if he intends to try and roll it out to the private train operators and/or Network rail etc?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45191501 :
Quote from BBC article, linked to above:
Article continues........A suggestion that rail fare and wage increases should be linked to a lower inflation measure has sparked an angry response from unions.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling wants future increases to be based on the lower Consumer Prices Index, rather than the higher Retail Price Index.
The RMT union accused him of trying to impose a "pay cap" on its members.
It comes as the government announced that RPI now stands at 3.2%, the figure which will set fares in January.
Under the current system, July's RPI sets the maximum rise for regulated fares in January.
The CPI rose to 2.5% in July from 2.4% in June - the first increase since November 2017.
How would Chris Grayling's proposal have affected annual season ticket costs in January 2018?
A Brighton to London ticket would have been £39 cheaper (£4,293 instead of £4,332)
Gloucester to Birmingham: £37 cheaper (£4,071 instead of £4,108)
Woking to London: £30 cheaper (£3,218 instead of £3,248)
Liverpool to Manchester: £29 cheaper (£3,123 instead of £3,152)
Maidenhead to London: £26 cheaper (£3,066 instead of £3,092)
Mr Grayling said he wanted to see "lower levels of increases for passengers in future".
He also said that - if a lower measure of inflation is used to calculate ticket price increases - then it should be used for costs, including annual pay rises.
Mr Grayling told the BBC the lower inflation measure was "used by pretty much the whole of the rest of the public sector and much of the rest of our economy".
He said he was "very disappointed" by the unions' immediate reaction.
He acknowledged that - due to existing pay deals for rail workers - any changes would "not happen overnight".
Bank of England governor Mark Carney recently argued that the index had "no merit".
What could the potential implications of this be if this suggestion is serious and if he intends to try and roll it out to the private train operators and/or Network rail etc?
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