Commuters to be spared 12% fare hike

TRANSPORT Secretary Grant Shapps will spare commuters double-digit rail fare hikes next year, he pledged yesterday.

Rail travellers were facing a record 12 per cent increase for some fares, including season tickets, in March.

This is because the annual rise is based on the previous July’s retail price index (RPI), which is due to be announced on Wednesday. It is expected to rise 0.1 percentage points to 11.9 per cent, according to research firm Capital Economics. Were fares to be hiked by this much, the cost of a 12-month season ticket would go up by £600 to £5,644 for Reading to London, by £685 to £6,450 for Colchester to London and by £212 to £1,996 for Runcorn to Liverpool.

Yesterday a Department for Transport spokesman said: ‘The Government will not increase fares as much as the July RPI figure. We are delaying the increase to March 2023, temporarily freezing fares for January and February to help struggling households.’

In Scotland, ministers are free to hike fares on the newly nationalised ScotRail by July’s rate of inflation. An increase of 12 per cent would add more than £500 to an annual season ticket between Glasgow and Edinburgh.