Railfuture campaigners were counting the cost after Chancellor George Osborne made minimal concessions to rail fare protesters today, 5 December 2013, in his financial statement to Parliament.
He announced an end to 10 painful years of above-inflation fare increases and said that in January, regulated fares (including season tickets) would not increase by more than the retail price index.
This is an important first step in Railfuture’s campaign on rail fares but does not go far enough.
Train operators will still be able to increase many fares by more than RPI and it is not clear what will happen in 2015.
And the fact remains that Britain’s rail fares are among the highest in Europe. A decade of above-inflation fare rises has left rail passengers with sky-high costs.
Regulated fares were expected to go up by another 4.1% in January. Now they will generally increase by 3.1%, which is still an unpleasant new year financial burden for passengers.
However train operators are given freedom through the “flex” system to increase some regulated tickets by as much as 5.1%.
The Scottish Government has already announced that regulated fares will be capped at RPI in January 2014 and January 2015.
Railfuture’s Bruce Williamson said: "We welcome the postponement of the inflation-busting rail fare increases planned for next January, which is something we have been campaigning on, but it is only a postponement.
"What happens in 2015? Meanwhile, by freezing fuel duty for motorists, the Chancellor is again showing that he treats the rail passenger unfairly compared to motorists. Rail fares will still go up by the RPI figure of 3.1% on average, with some fares going up by more than this.”
On Tuesday it was announced that London Transport fares would be limited to 3.1%.
Mr Williamson added: “Again, we welcome this, and it shows that perhaps the powers that be are starting to listen to us.”
Ignoring the fact that fares will still rise to match RPI, the Treasury claimed the Chancellor’s move would “save” 250,000 commuters £25 a year.
Stephen Joseph, chief executive of Campaign for Better Transport, said that ticket prices will still rise three times faster than wages.
He added: “Today’s announcement is a welcome first step, but the Government still has much to do to make sure our railways are affordable to all.”
Michael Roberts, director general of the Rail Delivery Group, said: “This will encourage even more passengers to travel by rail, helping to sustain already significant investment in more trains, faster services and better stations.”
But the union-backed Action for Rail campaign said that privatisation had made the railways exceptionally expensive. It said independent research has estimated that if the railway was publicly owned, fares could be cut by 18%.
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