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Ahead of the announcement of July’s Retail Price Index figure next week, which will be used to set the rail fare rises for January 2021, Campaign for Better Transport has urged the government to cancel the January 2021 fare rise and hold fares at the current level.

“Millions of people around the country are starting to plan their return to work and a rail fare rise in January is the last thing they need,” said Campaign for Better Transport chief executive Darren Shirley.

Time for a rail fare freeze

Wednesday sees the release of July’s inflation figures, which are usually used to set next January’s ticket price increase.   But rail campaigners are calling for a freeze.

“The COVID pandemic has had a severe impact on the industry, with passenger numbers way down.  The last thing we need is yet another deterrent to travel by train.” said Bruce Williamson from the campaign group Railfuture. “The world has changed, and many people have discovered that they don’t need to travel every day any more, so a fares increase is going to result in lower ticket sales.  More than ever there needs to be 0% increase in January.

It’s very important that the government sends a signal that they want people to use trains. If it can find money for me to get £10 off at Burger King, then it can afford to freeze rail fares.

The government pays lip service to the green agenda, but we’ve yet to see any evidence that they’re prepared to do anything to tempt travellers out of their cars.  If the fuel duty escalator can be frozen for motorists, budget after budget, in a supposedly decarbonising world, what about the annual rail fare escalator being frozen too?”

We don’t want our cities to be like in the US, dominated by cars, so the government must ensure that people are attracted back to rail,  both for commuting and leisure. This means not just price, but flexibility too, and smart tickets and flexible seasons would help to smooth out the peaks so that there is less overcrowding.

Cities are dependent on public transport, and if people are not attracted to travel to the city centres to work or spend money there, then city centre economies will die and many service and support jobs will be lost too.”

Notes to editors:

Railfuture is the UK's leading independent organisation campaigning for better rail services for both passengers and freight.

Railfuture's website can be found at: www.railfuture.org.uk

Follow Railfuture on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Railfuture

Rail fares are set to rise by another 1.6% in January, adding about £100 to the cost of many annual season tickets after an unexpected jump in inflation last month.

The passenger watchdog, campaigners and unions have all called on the UK government to abolish the policy of annual fare rises at a time when passenger numbers on the railway have plummeted because of the coronavirus.

It comes alongside the largest monthly increase in petrol prices for almost a decade and a lack of summer sales on the high street after the reopening of non-essential shops pushed up the rate of inflation.

The fare rise is set by the July retail prices index (RPI) measure of inflation, announced by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday morning. It will apply to all regulated fares in England and Wales, and most in Scotland. It includes season tickets, anytime urban tickets and most off-peak long-distance returns.

The increase means fares will once again rise well above the more commonly used measure of inflation, the consumer price index (CPI), which is typically lower than the RPI. Fares rises have also outstripped wage rises for most of the last decade, at a time when fuel duty for motorists has been frozen.

...Does Annual Season Ticket cost remain the best way of reporting the changes...?

Fare rise confirmed; three-day season tickets in the offing

Rail Minister Chris Heaton-Harris has confirmed that the annual rail fares rise will go ahead this January, despite strong calls for fares to be frozen.

Heaton-Harris said that the increase to regulated fares, which is automatically pegged to July’s Retail Price Index (RPI) of 1.6%, was justified due to the enormous cost currently being borne by the public purse to support the railways through the COVID-19 pandemic.