Rail commuters face an average £300 hike in the cost of annual travel in and out of London despite a Government pledge to cap next year’s fare increases, passenger groups warned on Wednesday.
The average cost of a season ticket, based on 40 popular commuter towns to the capital, would increase from £5,052 to £5,350 if March’s 5.9 per cent rise was replicated next year, the Campaign for Better Transport said.
It joined the Lib-Dems and Greens in calling for a freeze on rail fares – mirroring the freeze in fuel duty granted to motorists.
The RPI rate of interest for July, the traditional starting point for calculating annual rail increases, was announced today as being nine per cent, down from 10.7 per cent in June and markedly lower than the 12.3 per cent for July last year.
The Department for Transport said it would not increase next year’s fares by as much as the RPI rate “to protect passengers from cost of living pressures”. It said the increase would again be delayed from January until March.
Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said: “If the Government hikes rail prices yet again, it will be hammering train passengers commuting into London. It would be scandalous to see these price rises not only in the middle of a cost of living crisis, but also as the Government plans to close thousands of ticket offices.”
Transport for London, which sets Tube and bus fares, expects to “align” its fares with the rail fare increase but said Mayor Sadiq Khan would take the final decision.
Passengers will remain in the dark for several months about the size of the increases, with announcements unlikely until nearer December.
Last year the DfT limited the rail increase to 5.9 per cent, which was copied by Mr Khan for TfL services.
A similar rise next year would see 27 rail season tickets to London rise above £5,000, 10 exceed £6,000 and take an annual ticket between Southampton and London to £7,218, according to the Campaign for Better Transport.
TfL’s current funding deal with the Government requires it to impose a four per cent increase, or to mirror the rail rise, whichever is greater. In subsequent years, its “planning assumption” is for fares to increase by RPI+1.
TfL has succeeded in increasing its income from other sources, meaning that fares should account for 65 per cent of its cashflow this year, down from 72 per cent. Passenger numbers have reached 89 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.
A TfL spokesperson said: “Both the Mayor and TfL are committed to keeping public transport as accessible and affordable as possible and no final decisions on the fares package for 2024 have been made.”
Treasury Chief Secretary John Glen today rejected calls to freeze rail fares next year.
“When you’re in opposition, you can say lots of things that are very attractive,” he told Sky News. “When you’re in government you’ve got to take tough decisions within the envelope of expenditure that we have.”
