THE usual August announcement on rail fares for the coming year has been deferred as the Government considers “a variety of options”, according to the Department for Transport.
Rises for regulated fares on the national network are generally based upon the retail prices index (RPI) for July.
Having been postponed until March this year due to Covid-19, the most recent rise was pegged at RPI+1%, equating to a total increase of 2.6%. The RPI for July 2021 was 3.8%, which, if the previous equation was used again, would see an increase of 4.8% applied to regulated fares from January next year.
Around 45% of fares are ‘regulated’ directly by the Government, including season tickets for most commuter journeys, some long distance off-peak returns and anytime fares in major cities.