'A sick joke': More misery for commuters as rail fares to rise by almost 6% next year
22 December 2022, 12:15 | Updated: 22 December 2022, 14:17
Regulated rail fares will soar by up to 5.9% from March 2023, the Government has confirmed.
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The Department for Transport capped the rise at 5.9% for any fare regulated by the government - including season tickets for most trips and some off peak returns.
It said the cap is 6.4 percentage points below the inflation figure fare rises have normally been based on, and it is the first time it has not risen by a percentage point over an inflation measure.
But Labour branded the below inflation hike as a "sick joke".
Unregulated fares are set by train operating companies but these usually follow the trend set by the Government thanks to contracts made during the pandemic, when passenger figures crashed due to lockdowns.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: "This is the biggest-ever Government intervention in rail fares.
"I'm capping the rise well below inflation to help reduce the impact on passengers.
"It has been a difficult year and the impact of inflation is being felt across the UK economy.
"We do not want to add to the problem.
"This is a fair balance between the passengers who use our trains and the taxpayers who help pay for them."
The rise will hit from March 5.
It is the first time fares have not risen by a percentage point above the Retail Prince Index, a way of measuring inflation. The RPI for the last July is normally the benchmark, and it stood at 12.3%.
But with Britain facing soaring inflation and the country hammered by strikes due to pay rise demands, the Department for Transport has moved them in line with July;s average growth in earnings.
However, Labour’s shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said: "This savage fare hike will be a sick joke for millions reliant on crumbling services.
"People up and down this country are paying the price for 12 years of Tory failure."
And the director at Transport Focus, a watchdog, said "too many passengers are not getting a value for money service" and welcomed the below-inflation rise.
It also praised the decision to push it off until March, saying that will go “some way to easing the pain”.
Pre-Covid, rises were implemented on the first working day of the year.
