Train fares to rise by 4.6% despite record low reliability of services

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander acknowledged that “passengers are frustrated”.

The UK Government set the cap of 4.6 per cent for England’s increases in regulated fares, such as season tickets on most commuter journeys, some off-peak return tickets on long-distance routes, and flexible tickets for travel around major cities.

This will add around £133 to the cost of an annual season ticket from York to Leeds, rising from £2,896 to £3,029.

Operators set rises in unregulated fares, although these are also likely to rise by around 4.6% as their finances are closely controlled by governments.

This hike comes despite recent analysis of data from the rail regulator finding that reliability on Britain’s railways has reached a record low with the equivalent of more than one in 25 services cancelled in the year to February 1.

CrossCountry has the highest cancellations score at 7.4 per cent, while Northern sat third on 6 per cent.

Northern reduced its timetable over Christmas to try and cut down cancellations, which saw one in 10 services axed over the October half term.

TransPennine Express increased a new timetable in December, after it was forced to dramatically scale back its services in 2023 to cope with cancellations.

Railcards in Britain – excluding those specifically for disabled passengers – also became more expensive for the first time since 2013 from Sunday.

The price of a three-year card rises from £70 to £80, while a one-year card increases from £30 to £35.

Transport Secretary Ms Alexander said: “I understand that passengers are frustrated rail fares keep rising despite unacceptable levels of delays and cancellations, which is why this Government made sure this was the lowest increase in three years, and below the growth in average earnings.

“We inherited a railway that was not fit for purpose, and I know it will take time for trust to be restored, with trains turning up on time, when and where they’re needed.”

She added her “number one priority” is getting the railways “back to a place where people can rely on them”, through bringing operators into public ownership and creating new public sector body Great British Railways to oversee train operation and rail infrastructure.

Michael Solomon Williams, of lobby group Campaign for Better Transport, said: “With food and energy costs going up, today’s rail fare rise will pile further misery on hard-pressed households.

“Cost is the number one barrier to getting more people travelling by rail, so the Government must address the rising cost of train travel as part of its forthcoming rail reforms.”

He warned that support for a publicly owned railway “all but vanishes if fares were to continue to increase”.

Alex Robertson, chief executive of watchdog Transport Focus, said: “Our research shows there is a clear mismatch between ticket prices and the service people receive. This needs to change.”

He admitted a “difficult balance” must be struck between funding the railways through taxes and fares, but passengers “rightly expect… to see improvements for the money they have paid”.

A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents operators, said: “The money people pay for their train tickets keeps services running and helps to fund important improvements.

“Sometimes the reliability of these services falls below expectations, and we are determined to fix that.”

A spokesperson for Northern said: “We are sorry for our recent performance, accept it has not been good enough and understand the impact this has on our customers.

“We are working hard to address issues with traincrew availability so we can improve reliability for our customers.

“We recently secured a new rest-day working agreement for our train drivers, however an offer that was put to our conductors in the North West to secure a commitment to work on Sundays was rejected by their members in a referendum vote.”