Warning issued to anyone with a railcard over change in Budget
Everybody with a railcard has been warned over a change in the Labour Party Budget. Millions of rail passengers and train travellers will pay up to 4.6% more for train tickets next year, the Labour Party government's Budget documents have revealed.
The documents also show a £5 rise in railcards. The increase is one percentage point above July's Retail Price Index (RPI) measure of inflation, which is published monthly and is used to measure the change in the cost of retail goods and services.
Changes to fares will come into force on March 2, 2025. Andy Bagnall, chief executive of Rail Partners, a group representing private sector rail organisations, said: "Government should set fares at a level that will ultimately encourage more people to travel by train in the future, helping to secure the long-term financial sustainability of the sector and capture the wider economic and environmental benefits of rail for the nation as a whole.
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"The focus must be on growing passenger numbers, not making current passengers pay more." The Budget document also stated that the Government will "agree" to a £5 increase in the price of most railcards “subject to an industry proposal”.
The railcard for disabled passengers will be unchanged. Railcard prices are also set to increase by nearly 17 per cent, however this will be 'subject to industry proposal' The price of disabled passenger railcards will remain the same.
Previously railcards cost £30 a year, and bagged the average user savings of 'up to £158' every year, according to the Treasury. In 2023 train fares soared by 4.9 per cent, in an increased dubbed as 'brutal' by Louise Haigh who was then the shadow transport secretary.
About 45 per cent of fares on Britain's railways are regulated by the Scottish and Welsh Governments as well as Westminster MPs.