Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for South Wales West, Peter Black, has written to Arriva Trains Wales asking them to review their fare prices for stations on the Maesteg line.
Currently stations between Wildmill and Maesteg are classed as being in Cardiff Valleys zone six. Wildmill is 21 miles from Cardiff Central and Maesteg is 28 miles. However Ebbw Vale is classed as zone five despite also being 28 miles from Cardiff Central. This means that travellers from Maesteg will pay more for travel within the Cardiff Valleys area than those from Ebbw Vale.
"I cannot see how Arriva Trains Wales are able to justify charging customers who live closer to Cardiff more than those who have to travel further." said Mr Black. "Wildmill, and most of the stations after it, are closer to Cardiff than Ebbw Vale so why should they be classed as a higher priced zone?"
"I have written to Arriva Trains Wales and asked them to review this policy. We need to encourage as many people as possible to start using the railways again in order to combat problems such as road congestion and to lower Carbon Dioxide emissions. We will not be able to do this while people are unable to trust train companies to give them fair and reasonably priced fares."
