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Today in Parliament

18/09/2025

Today in Parliament

BBC

Government

4.4162 Ratings

🗓️ 18 September 2025

⏱️ 14 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Sean Curran reports as peers tackle the government about complicated rail fares.

Transcript

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0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.

0:06.0

Order! Order!

0:08.4

Hello, I'm Sean Curran, and this is today in Parliament from BBC Radio 4,

0:13.0

for Thursday the 18th of September, when a transport minister promised to simplify rail fares.

0:19.5

I have 50 million fares in the British railway system

0:22.7

and in order to eat the elephant, we have to do it in pieces.

0:26.5

The Conservatives questioned government plans to recognise a Palestinian state.

0:30.9

Whilst I accept it was not their intention,

0:34.0

this decision has been warmly welcomed by Hamas and their supporters.

0:37.9

And is it time for road pricing?

0:40.7

Now, for the next nine months, rail passengers in the East Midlands

0:44.1

will be able to take part in an experiment

0:46.6

which the government hopes will simplify the railway ticketing system.

0:51.5

People who sign up to a new mobile phone app will be charged the cheapest

0:56.0

fare at the end of the day. Similar schemes have already been tested in Switzerland, Denmark and Scotland,

1:02.9

but this is the first time it's been tried in England. A Liberal Democrat, Lady Pigeon,

1:07.7

welcomed the initiatives, but said for years passengers across the country

1:11.6

had paid higher fares for unreliable services.

1:15.6

By when will passengers be able to have simplified railfares, so they have confidence that they are

1:21.6

not being ripped off every time they catch a train.

1:24.6

The Transport Minister, Lord Hendy, a former chair of Network Rail, said

1:28.8

Labour had inherited a fragmented railway, with a fare system that passengers neither trusted

...

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