Tuesday 8 May 2007

Thank god for Oyster

My mate Chris got into a bit of bother a few weeks back. Turns out he had claimed thousands in petrol (yes, eco watchers, petrol) yet virtually nothing on train tickets;

"I'm afraid I managed to lose my rail charge card, or actually it was stolen . . . and I didn't then charge back the subsequent rail travel.'' said Huhne. But in his local paper, the Southern Daily Echo, Huhne offered a rather different story. "I don't always claim back the expenses from rail travel as I travel second class, which is quite cheap,'' he said, making no mention of the stolen card.

So no doubt Chris is now trying to find the card after South West trains announced a rise in off-peak fares by as much as 20 per cent from his Eastleigh constituency to London Waterloo.

"There can be no justification for making off-peak travellers pay so much more when the trains are far from full, and when there is no extra cost to carrying an extra passenger," said Mr Huhne. Well one extra passenger South West could carry is Huhne.

Luckily for Chris there is no need to find the card as all he needs to do to get from his million pound London mansion to Westminster is to top up his Oyster Card.

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