Transport Secretary Chris Grayling under fire for trip to Qatar amid major rail fare rises

Commuters have been hit with the biggest fare increase since 2013, with average rail prices increasing by 3.4 per cent

The Transport Department says the trip was pre-planned (EPA)

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has come under fire for jetting off on a ministerial visit to Qatar as commuters faced the largest hike to rail fares in five years.

Protests were planned at stations across the UK over the price rises, which mean passengers are paying up to £2,500 more for their annual season tickets than they did in 2010.

Labour accused Mr Grayling of “going into hiding” rather than defending the rise tied to last July’s Retail Price Index (RPI) measure of inflation, which will see fares rise by 3.4 per cent on average, and season tickets going up by 3.6 per cent.

Shadow Transport Secretary Andy McDonald was also prevented from campaigning in Leeds over rail fares – because his train broke down on the journey there.

Downing Street confirmed that Mr Grayling was on a two-day visit to the Gulf state where he will meet the Prime Minister and other senior politicians, as well as several senior business figures from Qatar Airways and the Qatar Business Authority.

Asked about the timing of the trip, Theresa May’s official spokesman said: “The fare rises we have known were coming for a while and the Department for Transport [Dft] has issued a full statement responding to those rises.”

The “pre-planned” trip was scheduled to take place outside of parliamentary time, according to the DfT, however critics seized on the news as a sign of Mr Grayling trying to avoid angry commuters.

Mr McDonald said: “Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has gone into hiding, unable to defend today’s 3.6 per cent fares hike and refusing to explain the £2bn taxpayer bailout of Virgin East Coast. Passengers deserve better than this.”

After his train broke down, Mr McDonald posted a series of tweets where he compared his stalled train to the “broken” Conservative Government.

Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable said: “Rail passengers are shivering on platforms angered by the biggest fare increase in years while Chris Grayling is off globetrotting.

“It’s very difficult to see what useful function he can perform in Qatar and Turkey that our excellent trade officials could not.”

It comes amid speculation that Mr Grayling could be among the ministers at risk in a forthcoming cabinet reshuffle, as Ms May is reportedly considering shaking up her top team after First Secretary of State Damian Green was forced to resign before Christmas.

He also faced calls to resign from former Transport Secretary Lord Adonis, who accused him of presiding over a taxpayer-funded “bailout” of a rail franchise.

The Labour peer who quit as the Government’s infrastructure tsar on Friday, said the decision to allow Virgin Trains East Coast to walk away early from a £3.3bn contract showed the Government’s running of the country had “essentially broken down in the face of Brexit”.

Asked if Mr Grayling would remain in post for the foreseeable future, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman declined to comment on a reshuffle but said: “Chris Grayling is working hard and doing a good job as Transport Secretary.”

The spokesman said the way fares were calculated was kept “under review” but pointed out that RPI was a standard measure of inflation used across the industry.

He said: “RPI is used to account for inflation in the cost of running train services and is used to index charges, such as Network Rail charges for using the track.

“But Government carefully monitors how rail fares and average earnings change and keeps the way fare levels are calculated under review.”

He added: “We understand that people are concerned about increases in the cost of their rail tickets and the cost of living and we are taking action in those areas.”

A DfT spokesperson said: “The Secretary of State is currently on a pre-planned visit to Qatar to promote the UK overseas, support British jobs and strengthen the important relationship between the two countries.

“This trip has been specifically arranged to take place outside of parliamentary time. The Secretary of State has repeatedly answered questions on this issue, ever since fare increases were first announced by the industry in August.”