South Yorkshire mayor hits out at ‘inflation-busting’ rail fares rise of 3.8% next March

The rise was also branded “a nightmare before Christmas for millions of rail passengers” by Sheffield MP and shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh.

Commenting on the Government’s 3.8% increase in rail fares from March 1, Mayor Jarvis said: “The record-breaking hike in rail fares the Government has snuck out just before Christmas is yet another sign of their utter failure to control the cost of living crisis – and their contempt for rail passengers, for whom this is just the latest in a decade of inflation-busting rises.

“This is an especially bitter pill for anyone in the North. They’ve jacked up prices weeks after announcing that they were breaking years of promises to renew the unacceptably decrepit Northern rail system by fully implementing Northern Powerhouse Rail.

"It’s a bargain basement service at sky-high prices and it’s not good enough.

“But this pattern is not just true in the North. The Government has presided over a similar rip-off across the whole system. Since 2010 season ticket prices have gone up on average 49%, with fares rising at twice the rate of wages, and people paying thousands of pounds more even as travel remains below standard in many places.

“As we try to encourage people off the roads and amid a wider crisis in the cost of living, the actions of the Conservatives once again speak louder than their words.”

Shadow transport secretary, Sheffield Heeley MP Louise Haigh, claimed the “brutal” fares increase are “a nightmare before Christmas for millions of passengers”.

She continued: “Families already facing soaring taxes and bills will now be clobbered with an eye-watering rise in the cost of the daily commute.”

The Department for Transport announced ticket price increases in England will be capped at 3.8% from March 1.

The figure of 3.8% is in line with July’s Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation.

Rise is ‘fair balance’ says rail minister

It will be the steepest increase since January 2013, according to figures from industry body the Rail Delivery Group (RDG).

This year’s rise in fares in England and Wales was based on the previous July’s RPI plus one percentage point.

Increases are normally implemented on the first working day of every year but have been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Rail minister Chris Heaton-Harris described the 3.8% rise as a “fair balance” which means the Government can “continue to invest record amounts into a more modern, reliable railway, ease the burden on taxpayers and protect passengers from the highest RPI in years”.

He added that delaying the changes until March enables people to save money by giving them longer to renew their tickets at current prices.

Andy Bagnall, director-general of the RDG, welcomed the decision not to continue the 2021 policy of raising fares by RPI plus one percentage point.

He said: “It is important that fares are set at a level that will encourage more people to travel by train in the future, helping to support a clean and fair recovery from the pandemic.”

Demand for rail travel is more than 40% below pre-coronavirus levels.

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