Next year prices for rail travel on most fares will drop ‘for the first time in a generation’ following price caps that have been set up this month. This is great news for business travel and has not happened for many years.

On a yearly basis permitted fare hikes are calculated with increases limited to one per cent higher than the Retail Index Price. The figure for last year was five per cent which gave rail operators leeway to increase fares by six per cent. However following the economic downturn this year’s RPI figures stood at -1.4 per cent which has ensured operators have to lower their fares by 0.4 per cent in 2010.

This cap is applicable to all UK regulated rail fares except for West Yorkshire and South Eastern PTE franchises. These franchises have been permitted to increase prices by three per cent as funding for ongoing investment in services.

The Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis commented on the news by saying:

“This is good news. For the first time in a generation passengers across the country will see their fares fall. Drops in fares should encourage more people to travel by train, which is good for the economy and the environment.”

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Virgin Trains has now opened a First Class lounge in Liverpool’s Lime Street. The new lounge cost the rail company £3.4 million and offers seating for fifty passengers. The luxury lounge also comes equipped with top of the range facilities such as free Wi-Fi access and drinks and food.

Keith Millard, the station manager for Virgin, added:

Since last December we have had a high quality train service, using state-of-the-art tilting Pendolino trains from Liverpool to London, and now we have a high quality station facility to complement the trains.

We are confident that the improved facilities at the station will encourage more environmentally-conscious motorists to ditch the car and take the train.

First Class customers using the Liverpool to London route are also able to take advantage of a completely refurbished lounge at Euston station, which opened at the end of April.

Virgin’s new first class lounge in Liverpool adds to their compliment of luxury lounges for business travellers which already exist in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton and Stoke-on-Trent.

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