Rising rail fares are putting people off using the railways, says Campaign for Better Transport

Reacting to the 'rail fares index 2025', which shows that rail fares across Great Britain increased by 5.1% in 2025 compared with a 3.2% increase in the Retail Prices Index, Ben Plowden, Chief Executive of Campaign for Better Transport, said:

"Rising rail fares are putting people off using the railways and making rail travel unaffordable. The Government must make fares and ticketing reforms a priority under Great British Railways to help tackle inflation-busting fare rises and make rail travel more affordable for more people."

ENDS

Notes to Editors

The rail fares index 2025 can be read on the ORR website.

YouGov data shows that fares affordability is a key factor behind the public's support in the process of rail reform: while two-thirds of Britons (66%) support nationalisation in principle, this falls to only 6% if rail fares were to continue to increase.

Research commissioned by Campaign for Better Transport found that 71 per cent of people said cheaper fares would make them more likely to travel by train. More details: Campaign for Better Transport commissioned Yonder to carry out an online omnibus survey as part of its report, Fix Fares for Good. The fieldwork was undertaken between 17-19 January 2025 with 1,102 respondents across Great Britain. When asked 'How much more likely would the following measures make you to travel by rail?', 41% of people said 'cheaper fares in general' would make them 'significantly' more likely to travel by rail; 30% said 'somewhat more likely'; 22% said 'it wouldn't make a difference'; and 7% said 'don't know'.