Freezing train fares isn’t a total win if prices stay high while value and service keep Shrinking

screenshot from X

Keir Starmer, British prime minister and leader of the Labour Party, tweeted to celebrate freezing rail fare prices and providing discounts on tickets to show that he has control over the cost of living but, thing is, it would be easy to assume this is a good thing.

One of the comments underneath the tweet pointed out how freezing prices does not revert all the damage already done. The price points of train tickets have risen over the last several years and freezing prices now does not return affordability to public transport, it simply prevents them from skyrocketing anymore.

This was a very good point raised in the comment, the one with regards to shrinkflation, that's what I had to take that screenshot in particular.

Shrinkflation is something most politicians do not acknowledge when they're gloating about achievements. While you may have the same high priced or nearly high priced ticket, what value do you receive? Trains are overcrowded and trains and routes are cancelled. So even if the price on your ticket remains constant, the real cost of travelling is on the rise because your travel experience continues to decrease from one day to another as most products and services do.

Inflation statistics from the government do not take into consideration this reality. They merely track or measure the increases of prices for products and services, but do not measure the consumer’s ability to get equal value for their hard earned money because of the increased costs. Real wages have not kept up to the increased costs of transportation, food and everything else people need to survive in a society today.

The real tragedy lies between the tweet announcement and the day to day reality that the constituents of that political party have experienced. Being able to freeze prices may be a benefit or it may only be delaying what it will cost people to ride public transport.