Back in December, the government announced that rail fares in England would officially rise in March – and the day has come around as quick as ever. The increase comes despite record levels of poor reliability on the rail network, at a time when train journeys have faced disruption from issues like poor weather conditions, infrastructure failures and staff shortages.
What’s more, national rail strikes are set to take place on March 16, 18 and 30, and April 1, when members of the RMT union will walk out at 14 train operators. Here is everything you need to know about the rail fare increases in 2023.
How much are rail fares increasing in March 2023?
On Sunday, March 5, train tickets increased by up to 5.9 percent, in what is thought to be the greatest leap in the cost of rail travel in a decade.
That’s in spite of the government saying it has made its biggest-ever intervention to keep the rise below inflation, with the increase being capped at 5.9 percent, 6.4 percentage points lower than RPI figure on which they are historically based. Ticket prices were frozen for the entirety of January and February so passengers could purchase more at the existing rate.
The National Rail website notes that not all fares will increase, saying: ‘Some fares may go up, many will stay the same and some will reduce in price, in order to meet demand and provide an average.’
Why are ticket prices rising?
Regulated fares, including season tickets, increase every year and are usually pegged to July’s Retail Prices Index measure of inflation. However, since RPI hit 12.3 per cent in July 2022, the government intervened to stop such high rises in train ticket prices – instead aligning the rise in fares to July 2022’s average earnings growth, more than halving the increase for passengers.
Revenue from train fares helps to cover day-to-day costs of running the railway, like fuel and staff. It is also invested in more trains, station improvements and to help make journeys faster.
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