Commenting on the 4.9% increase in rail fares which will take
effect tomorrow (3 March), Michael Solomon Williams from Campaign
for Better Transport said:
"At a time when we urgently need to encourage people to take the
train, the public will rightly be angry to discover that it has
just become even more expensive to do so. We know that people
will decide to drive or fly if the train is too expensive, so
this is bad news for our personal finances, the wider economy and
the environment."
Michael Solomon Williams added:
"Meanwhile fuel duty has been frozen for 13 years, meaning the
Government has foregone £100 billion which could have been spent
on completing HS2 and much-needed local transport
networks. This is simply a question of priorities. If the
Government is serious about encouraging people to take the train
and meeting our net zero targets then it is rail fares, not fuel
duty, which should be frozen."
Campaign for Better Transport analysis of season ticket costs
reveals that out of 40 popular commuter routes into London, 5
will see season tickets newly go above £5,000 from tomorrow,
while 3 will pass the £6,000 mark, and an annual season ticket
from Southampton to London will cost over £7,000 (£7,150).
An annual season ticket from Macclesfield to Manchester will rise
by £149 while an annual season ticket from York to Leeds will
rise by £135.
ENDS
See examples of 2024 season
ticket increases for passengers travelling into London
See examples of 2024 season
ticket increases for passengers travelling to regional
stations
Notes to Editors
Regulated rail fares, including standard day returns, season
tickets and most commuter fares, make up almost half (45 per
cent) of all fares and increases are set by the Government.
Tomorrow (3 March) regulated rail fares will rise by 4.9%. This
is lower than July's RPI figure (which has historically been used
to set rail fare increases) of 9%.
However it should be contrasted with fuel duty which has been
either frozen or cut for the past 13 years.
The Social Market Foundation has shown that "Fuel duty
has been frozen since 2011, meaning the Treasury has foregone
£100bn in tax revenue. The freeze and cuts have benefitted the
richest the most – as of 2020, £17bn went to the richest
households, and less than half that (£8bn) went to the poorest."
The Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, published in May 2021,
promised a fundamental reorganisation of the rail sector and
reform of the ticketing system. This has yet to take place.
