Rail passengers face a ticket price "nightmare" as the steepest increases in almost a decade hit from today.
According to industry body the Rail Delivery Group, people in England and Wales are set to shoulder the largest hike in rail ticket prices since January 2013 with fares predicted to go up by 3.8%.
Labour has called the price hike "brutal" and campaign group Railfuture has accused Boris Johnson's Government of “stoking the fire of the cost of living crisis” by enabling the increase.
Ministers regulate rises in around half of fares including season tickets on most commuter routes.
Operators controlled increases in other fares before the coronavirus pandemic, but governments now have control of all ticket prices after spending more than £15bn to keep services running during the virus crisis.
When England’s fare rise was announced in December last year, rail minister Chris Heaton-Harris described the 3.8% cap as a “fair balance” which means the Government can “continue to invest record amounts into a more modern, reliable railway, ease the burden on taxpayers and protect passengers from the highest RPI in years”.
The 3.8% rise is set to hit as Brits face rising food, fuel and heating costs as inflation continues to rise.
The predicted hikes in the cost of annual season tickets would lead to the following:
– Brighton to London (any route): Up £194 to £5,302
– Liverpool to Manchester (any route): Up £105 to £2,865
– Neath to Cardiff: Up £70 to £1,922
A spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group called the decision to keep fares down below the current rate of inflation - 7.8% according to the Retail Price Index - "positive".
“It is important that fares are set at a level that will encourage more people to travel by train in the future, helping to support a clean and fair recovery from the pandemic," they said.
But Bruce Williamson of Railfuture said: “Ordinary working people are feeling the squeeze like never before, yet the Government is stoking the fire of the cost of living crisis with these eye-watering fare increases.
“How does this help get the country back to work?
Mr Williamson claimed passengers will be “bankrupted next year” if the formula for setting rail fare rises remains unchanged, as inflation is “likely to hit 8%”.
Paul Tuohy, chief executive of Campaign for Better Transport, said the increase in fares “couldn’t come at a worst time”, and noted that many office workers have a choice about how many days they commute.
He continued: “Higher fares and crowded trains as a result of service reductions aren’t very appealing, and risks people working from home more or driving into work instead, further adding to congestion and air pollution.”
Operators are still working to restore all the services cut in December and January amid huge staff shortages due to the Omicron coronavirus variant.
Labour’s shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said: “This brutal Tory fare hike will be a nightmare for millions of passengers.
“Families are already facing tax rises and surging bills, and will now be clobbered with yet another eye-watering rise in the cost of the commute.”
Trades Union Congress general secretary Frances O’Grady said increasing the cost of rail travel is “the last thing commuters need”.
She continued: “It is vital that our rail system recovers the passengers it lost at the start of the pandemic, especially if we want to keep to our climate commitments.”
Demand for rail travel is around a third below pre-coronavirus levels.
In Scotland, a 3.8% increase in fares was implemented on January 24.
Rail fares in Northern Ireland are set by state-owned operator Translink, which does not use RPI.
