Rail fares will rise again in 2023 but later in the year and by a lower percentage than usual.
Regulated train fares, which include season tickets and anytime tickets, usually rise in price every January.
The Department for Transport (Dft) has confirmed the 2023 rise will be delayed until March, due to the Cost of Living crisis. And it won't increase the rail fare price cap by the usual rate, which is normally tied to the Retail Price Inflation percentage recorded in the previous July.
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July 2022's RPI rate was 12.1%. The DfT said it will not increase regulated fares - which apply to 45% of tickets - by as high a percentage as that, but it has also yet to reveal what the increase will be.
A DfT spokesperson told ChronicleLive “We will not be increasing fares as much as the July RPI figure and we are further delaying the increase to March 2023, freezing fares for passengers for the entirety of January and February.”
How much could train fares rise by in 2023?
It is understood the Government is considering a range of options for how train fares will be priced from March 2023. An announcement is due soon, usually, the price cap for the following year is announced in December.
If the 12.1% RPI rate was applied then an anytime single from Newcastle to London Kings Cross would rise from £175 to £196.50. A single from Newcastle to Durham would increase from £7.90 to £8.87 and a single to Edinburgh from £65 to £73, all approximately. A season ticket between Durham and Newcastle would rise to £1,631, from the current rate of £1,452.
But the DfT has promised the train ticket price increase will not be as high as the rate of RPI, so the price increases should be less than the figures above.
The record rise for train tickets was the 6% increase recorded in 2009 and 2012.
The Campaign for Better Transport is calling for a fare freeze for passengers, which it says could be funded by a tax on aviation fuel used for planes.
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