Rail fares in England hiked by up to 4.9 per cent for millions of commuters

Regulated rail fares in England will increase by up to 4.9 percent next year, the Government has announced. Ministers decided to cap the fares increase at almost half the inflation figure for July, which was nine percent. This is the metric which usually determines the rise in train ticket prices.

The new fares will come in from March 3, 2024 rather than increasing in January as normally happens. Transport Secretary, Mark Harper hailed the decisions as a “significant interevention” by the Government.

He said: “Changed working patterns after the pandemic means that our railways are still losing money and require significant subsidies, so this rise strikes a balance to keep our railways running, while not overburdening passengers.

“We remain committed to supporting the rail sector reform outdated working practices to help put it on a sustainable financial footing.”

The Department for Transport capped this year’s increase at 5.9 percent, in line with average earnings growth for July 2022.

From July to September 2023, rail revenues were at 78 percent of pre-pandemic levels after accounting for inflation.

The Government said fare increases are “necessary to ensure the financial sustainability of our rail network, as are cost-saving reforms which ministers have urged rail unions to agree with”.

Over the past year, taxpayer funding has provided £12billion for the railways, amounting to on average £420 per household.

Single bus fares in England have been capped at £2 since January 2023. This was set to increase to £2.50 in November 2023 but ministers decided to retain the current cap until the end of the year.

The bus fare cap has helped reduce fares in England outside London by 7.4 percent between June 2022 and June 2023. People in rural areas had had even bigger savings with fares dropping 11 percent.

More than 140 operators have signed up to apply the fare cap on 5,000 routes. The cap was funded by redirecting funding from HS2 to the Network North plan.

Some 45 percent of fares on Britain’s railways are regulated by the Westminster, Scottish and Welsh Governments. This incldues most season tickets, travelcard ans some off-peak returns.

Transport Scotland announced this week all rail fares will increase 8.7 percent from next April. This will affect all services operated by ScotRail, as well as the Caledonian Sleeper train.

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