TRAIN passengers in England and Wales will be hit with the largest fare rises in nearly a decade from Tuesday, March 1.

Campaign group Railfuture accused the UK Government of “stoking the fire of the cost of living crisis” by enabling an increase in ticket prices of up to 3.8 per cent.

A 3.8 per cent rise will lead to an annual season ticket from Brighton to London increasing £194 to £5,302.

In comparison, an annual season ticket from Liverpool to Manchester would rise £105 to £2,865, while a Neath to Cardiff season ticket would go up £70 to £1,922.

The Argus:

The cap on fare rises in England and Wales matches the Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation for July 2021.

It will be the steepest increase since January 2013, according to figures from industry body the Rail Delivery Group (RDG).

The 2021 rise in fares was based on the previous July’s RPI plus one percentage point.

Operators controlled increases in other fares before the coronavirus pandemic.

But governments now have control of all ticket prices after spending more than £15 billion to keep services running during the pandemic.

When England’s fare rise was announced in December last year, rail minister Chris Heaton-Harris described the 3.8 per cent cap as a “fair balance” which means the government can “continue to invest record amounts into a more modern, reliable railway, ease the burden on taxpayers and protect passengers from the highest RPI in years”.

Latest figures show RPI in January was 7.8 per cent.

An RDG spokesman said: “The Government’s decision to hold fares down below current inflation is positive.

“It is important that fares are set at a level that will encourage more people to travel by train in the future, helping to support a clean and fair recovery from the pandemic.”

However, Bruce Williamson of Railfuture said: “Ordinary working people are feeling the squeeze like never before, yet the Government is stoking the fire of the cost of living crisis with these eye-watering fare increases.”

Mr Williamson claimed passengers will be “bankrupted next year” if the formula for setting rail fare rises is unchanged, as inflation is “likely to hit 8 per cent”.

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