Rail fares to rise by 2.2%
05/12/2014
Average rail fares will rise by 2.2% from 2nd January 2015, the rail industry has announced. This excluded regulated rails fares, which will rise by 2.5%.
The 2.2% is the lowest rise in train prices for five years. In Scotland, there will be no rise in off peak fares, which have been frozen since January 2014, but peak fares will rise by 2.5%, the same as they July inflation rate. Northern Ireland rail fares are set separately and have not seen a rise since 2013.
In September, the government announced that regulated rail fare rises would rise according to July's measure of Retail Price (RPI) inflation rather than capped at RPI plus 1%.
George Osborne confirmed this in Wednesday 's Autumn Statement, and said that regulated fares will rise by July's RPI figure of 2.5%. Regulated fares, which include season tickets, “anytime” single tickets and off-peak inter-city return tickets, have increased by more than the rate of inflation in most years since 2004.
Network rail have announced that they will be spending £27 million a day on improving rail lines, and various train companies have promised to improve services.
Michael Roberts, director general of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents rail operators and Network Rail, said:
"For every pound spent on fares, 97p goes on track, train, staff and other costs, while 3p goes in profits earned by train companies for running services on Europe's fastest-growing railway.
"The industry is continuing to work together to get more for every pound we invest to enable government to make fares decisions which work best for passengers."
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