Rail fares to continue to rise if trains are renationalised, admits Labour

Rail fares will continue to rise Labour renationalises the train network, shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald has said.

Mr McDonald said the party’s plans to take back the train companies and network into state hands are “not about freezing or reducing” rail fares.

Instead Labour would only increase fares by CPI not RPI rate of inflation – a policy already being examined by the Tories as an attempt to stop rail fares rising too quickly.

CPI - the consumer prices index - is currently 3 per cent, while the RPI measure - retail prices index - is 4 per cent.

Mr McDonald told the Ridge on Sunday programme on Sky News: “You’re not talking about freezing or reducing, you’re talking about substituting CPI so that as wages rise people find them much more affordable so it’s much more within their reach than it is now.”

“Wages would go up higher than the rate of increase in train tickets so it becomes much more affordable for people, that’s the principle but we’ve got to look fundamentally at the structure of ticketing because it’s far, far too complex.”