Fall in season ticket sales as commuters fear losing their jobs

COMMUTERS in London and the South-East are bearing the brunt of the credit crunch.

The number of costly season ticket renewals fell by about 13,000 during October to December, the Office of Rail Regulation revealed today.

The fall in season tickets was attributed to commuters fearing so much for their jobs they did not want to spend hundreds or even thousands of pounds on tickets.

Instead most are buying weekly or even daily tickets.

London and the South-East rail operators also witnessed the sharpest decline in passenger revenue - 5.8 per cent - during the three months, the latest period for which statistics are available - compared with other parts of the country.

And, with the recession worsening since last month the situation has further declined. The ORR report said: "The commuter market is currently bearing the brunt of the impact of the economy. Travel by season tickets fell by 0.8 per cent." The recession is also causing increased fears that rail operators will be unable to cope and will hand back the keys to franchises as income drops.

There are similar concerns the recession will hit Network Rail's massive improvement programme for the national network - costing £28.5 billion - over the next five years.

Half of Network Rail's income comes from passenger and freight train access charges but both sectors are cutting back.

Bill Emery, ORR chief executive, said: "There are difficult times ahead. There is no doubt about that."

Rail and coach giant National Express is due to publish its financial figures tomorrow which are expected to show a huge drop in revenue.

This is fuelling fears the company will pull out of its franchise commitments It currently operates the East Coast Mainline, National Express East Anglia, the Stansted Express and c2c.

A National Express spokeswoman refused to comment on the rumours ahead of tomorrow's figures.