The Liberal Democrats have signed up to the Campaign for Better Transport‘s calls for a reduction in rail fares. That should be good news for commuters, who can currently expect their season tickets to increase in price almost every year.

Regulated fares in the UK, which includes season tickets, can currently increase in price by 1% above the rate of inflation year on year, and unregulated fares, which includes most other tickets, can increase by as much as each train operator can justify.

The Campaign for Better Transport has been pushing to change this, not only so that commuters get a better deal but also so that more people use the train, which is of course better for the environment.

With all of the main political parties keen to trumpet their environmental credentials in the run-up to the general election it is therefore surprising that only the Lib Dems have signed up to the cause. Their policy document on transport – a refreshing one-page of clear commitments – states:

We will make sure that regulated fares go up by less than inflation which means prices will come down and we will make Network Rail refund a third of your ticket price if you have to take a rail replacement bus service.

You can’t get much clearer than that.

The rest of the party’s policy briefing notes on transport can be found in this PDF document.