Commuters face hefty rail fare increases next year which could add hundreds of pounds to season tickets even though inflation is falling.
Train prices are “already too high” compared with many other European countries, they stressed, and further rises would be a “kick in the teeth”.
They also slammed services that are often crippled by strikes, delays, cancellations and timetable cutbacks as poor “value for money”.
Yearly rises in the cost of regulated tickets are normally closely linked to Retail Price Index inflation, as measured in the previous July. But ministers ditched the RPI, plus or minus one per cent, formula last year to avoid a whopping increase of 12.3 per cent, after inflation sky-rocketed.
Instead, they aligned this fare rise to July 2022’s average earnings growth to come up with a figure of 5.9 per cent, delayed from January until March. At the time, the Government insisted this was “for this year only”. But it now faces a similar dilemma. RPI was 10.7 per cent in June, with some economists predicting a drop to 9.8 per cent last month.
Tube and bus fares in London increased by an average of 5.9 per cent this year, in line with the national rail hike, as part of the funding deal struck between the Government and City Hall.
Ministers will seek to “strike a balance between supporting mainline passengers and keeping our railways running” so are not expected to impose next year an RPI-level hike on regulated fares.
They include most season tickets, most full fare (anytime) day returns in commuting areas, off-peak return fares for longer journeys and the national rail pay-as-you-go singles in the London area. But even a repeat of last year’s 5.9 per cent rise, which was a record jump, would still be very painful for many commuters.
Faced with large rises, Paul Tuohy, chief executive of the Campaign for Better Transport, warned: “If rail fares go up again in January it will be the second hike in a year and will do nothing to get people back on board trains. The Government should instead freeze rail fares, as they have done with fuel duty, until the long-promised ticketing reform takes place.”
Travellers at Victoria criticised the potential price rises amid the cost-of-living crisis. Gary Lucas, 51, an IT team leader who travels in from Brighton on Southern and faces an increase of hundreds of pounds, said: “I’m very annoyed about yet more rises. It’s a kick in the teeth for the travelling public.
“I already pay a lot at a time when the cost of living is rocketing. It’s totally unjust. I’ve just been on holiday in Italy and took a couple of trains — it was much cheaper than here. It’s a disgrace.”
Justine Tompkins, 35, an accounts executive who travels in from Orpington on Southeastern, warned: “It’s a terrible idea to raise fares again. Everyone is expected to go into the office more again and this extra expense will really hit people.
“The Government should be shielding people more. This is another blow on top of energy bill rises, food inflation and the rest of it.”
Mohammed Iqbal, 38, who travels in from Bromley South to his sales job in central London, added: “Everybody is getting worse off. The prices are already too high and what with strikes, there is no value for money. If the economy is to be successful, people should not be squeezed like this.”
A Department for Transport spokesman said: “Last year, the Government made the biggest intervention in history to cap rail fare increases at 5.9 per cent, below July 2022’s RPI figure, as well as freezing fares for an extra two months to help reduce the impact of inflation on passengers.
“No decisions have been made on the annual fares change for 2024, but we will again look to ensure we strike a balance between supporting passengers and keeping our railways running.”
Station commuted from into London terminals |
2023 season ticket price |
Predicted 2024 season ticket price with another 5.9% rise |
Increase from 2023 |
Ashford International |
£5,784 |
£6,125 |
£341 |
Aylesbury |
£4,856 |
£5,143 |
£287 |
Basingstoke |
£5,340 |
£5,655 |
£315 |
Bishops Stortford |
£5,008 |
£5,303 |
£295 |
Bracknell |
£5,340 |
£5,655 |
£315 |
Braintree |
£5,376 |
£5,693 |
£317 |
Brentwood |
£3,192 |
£3,380 |
£188 |
Brighton |
£5,616 |
£5,947 |
£331 |
Cambridge |
£6,096 |
£6,456 |
£360 |
Canterbury stations |
£6,472 |
£6,854 |
£382 |
Chelmsford |
£4,744 |
£5,024 |
£280 |
Colchester |
£6,104 |
£6,464 |
£360 |
Crawley |
£4,428 |
£4,689 |
£261 |
Eastbourne |
£5,680 |
£6,016 |
£335 |
Farnham |
£4,816 |
£5,100 |
£284 |
Gillingham (Kent) |
£4,932 |
£5,223 |
£291 |
Grays (Essex) |
£2,840 |
£3,008 |
£168 |
Guildford |
£4,324 |
£4,579 |
£255 |
Harlow Town |
£4,324 |
£4,579 |
£255 |
Hastings |
£5,784 |
£6,125 |
£341 |
High Wycombe |
£4,256 |
£4,507 |
£251 |
Horsham |
£4,844 |
£5,130 |
£286 |
Luton |
£4,996 |
£5,291 |
£295 |
Maidstone stations |
£5,320 |
£5,634 |
£314 |
Milton Keynes |
£6,080 |
£6,439 |
£359 |
Oxford |
£6,096 |
£6,455 |
£360 |
Portsmouth stations |
£6,252 |
£6,621 |
£369 |
Reading |
£5,340 |
£5,655 |
£315 |
Royston |
£5,724 |
£6,062 |
£338 |
St Albans City |
£4,440 |
£4,702 |
£262 |
Sevenoaks |
£4,180 |
£4,427 |
£247 |
Slough |
£3,144 |
£3,329 |
£185 |
Southampton Central |
£6,816 |
£7,218 |
£402 |
Southend Central |
£4,216 |
£4,465 |
£249 |
Stevenage |
£4,472 |
£4,736 |
£264 |
Tunbridge Wells |
£5,556 |
£5,884 |
£328 |
Tonbridge |
£5,064 |
£5,363 |
£299 |
Witham |
£5,300 |
£5,613 |
£313 |
Woking |
£3,880 |
£4,109 |
£229 |
AVERAGE |
£5,052 |
£5,350 |
