UK rail passengers suffer 54 million hours in wasted time a year

New research by rail union RMT has found that approximately fifty four million hours, the equivalent to 6154 years, of passengers time are wasted each year due to delays on the rail network caused by train operating company and infrastructure failures.

The research comes as passengers brace themselves for an announcement on 15 August of eye watering fare rises. This is the when the Retail Price Inflation fare increases for 2018 are announced and all forecasts predict an increasing trend to around 4 per cent.

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Unveiling the figures at the union’s AGM in Exeter this morning, RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said: “In a few weeks passengers will be told that their fares are to go up in the region of 4% and the Train Operators will claim this further rip off is necessary to fund investment.

“The reality of our fragmented, profit driven industry is a network starved of the necessary investment leading to a scale back of essential rail maintenance and renewals resulting in massive delays for passengers.

“These figures tell the real story of the actual impact of these delays, not only on passengers but also the economy as a whole.”

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