Labour analysis shows season ticket cost has rocketed 43% for long-suffering rail-users as Government brings in 2.6% fares rise

With rail fares set to rise by 2.6 per cent from today (March 1 2021), Labour has analysed costs on more than 180 train routes since the Conservatives came to power in 2010.

The average commuter will now be paying £3,144, for their season ticket - £950 or 43 per cent more than in 2010.

Labour’s analysis shows:

• Fares have risen by 43% compared to 2010 prices
• Some commuters will be paying more than £3,450 more to travel to work than in 2010
• The highest increase is projected to be on a Virgin Trains season ticket between Birmingham and London Euston, which will have risen by £3,467 since 2010 and now costs £11,204.
• The biggest percentage increase identified was between Tame Bridge Parkway near Walsall and Nuneaton, where the cost of an annual season ticket will have risen by 63% since 2010.
• In Boris Johnson’ constituency of Uxbridge, the cost of an annual season ticket from West Drayton to London Paddington has risen by £637 since 2010.
• Average fares have risen two-and-a-half times faster than wages.

Jim McMahon MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, said:

“This Government is already hitting families in the pocket by forcing councils into economically illiterate tax rises when its failure means we are facing the worst recession of any major economy.

“Now rail-users will have to pay even more to use the services they rely on. This fare hike will make rail unaffordable for many and discourage people from getting back on to the network when lockdown restrictions ease in the coming months.”

Ends

Notes to editors

• The average commuter will be paying £3144 for their season ticket in 2020, £950 more than in 2010.

The average 2017 annual season ticket reportedly costs £2,788. Regulated rail fares rose by 27.1% between 2010 and 2017, which means that the average season ticket in 2010 would have cost £2,194. A 43% (from 2010-2021) increase on £2,194 is £3,144. http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rail-fares-rise-by-up-to-a-fifth-as-overcrowding-and-delays-worsen-5n5mzrwhd; http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/16/ministers-consider-exempting-long-suffering-commuters-from-rail/

Top 5 highest rises in cash terms

Top 5 highest rises in percentage terms

Fare rises in Ministers’ constituencies

Season ticket data for 2010 has been taken from the Avantix Traveller (National Fares Manual) database. http://data.atoc.org/fares-data

2021 are based on a 2.6% increase on 2020 prices which have been taken from the National Rail season ticket calculator. http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/service/seasonticket/search

The Government has not provided updated fares to the national season ticket calculator. These figures are based on 2020 prices plus 2.6%. As of Friday 26^th February 2021, travellers could still buy season tickets beyond 1^st March 2021 at 2020 prices.

Regulated rail fares, which include season tickets and most other commuter tickets, will have risen by 43% on average between 2010 and 2021.

Regulated fares have risen by more than the average on some routes because Ministers decided to restore ‘flex,’ the train companies’ right to vary prices by up to 5 per cent, between 2011 and 2014.

In September 2014 the Department for Transport introduced a new evening peak period in metropolitan areas on the Northern franchise, which raised the cost of travel by up to 162%.

Median weekly wages grew by 17.5% between 2010 and 2020

ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2020, 3 November 2020, https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/annualsurveyofhoursandearnings/2020