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<p>In August, the Secretary of State for Transport wrote to the Rail Delivery Group
and to the trades unions, asking them to adopt CPI, and not RPI, as the basis for
inflation when negotiating wage deals. As you know, CPI is the more widely used and
reliable measure of inflation.</p><p> </p><p>This would be a significant step in ensuring
that costs in the rail industry do not rise faster than ticket prices. It will help
to ensure that the railway is affordable for the fare paying and tax paying public
for decades to come, while making sure that those who work on the railway continue
to receive fair reward. Of course, pay negotiations and the settlements reached by
individual employers and trade unions remain a matter for local collective bargaining.</p><p>
</p><p>In his letter to the trades unions the Secretary of State invited them to meet
with the Rail minister so this might be discussed further.</p>
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