Biggest Government intervention ever to keep rail fares down

• Rail fare increases for 2023 will be capped at 5.9% - 6.4 pp below July 2022’s RPI  
• Biggest ever Government intervention in rail fares will help reduce the impact of high inflation for passengers.
• A rise is necessary to support crucial investment and the financial stability of the railway  

The Government has acted with the biggest intervention in its history to ensure rail fare increases for 2023 are capped at 5.9%, 6.4pp lower than RPI figure on which they are historically based.

Fares will officially rise on 5 March 2023 and like last year, the Government is freezing them for the entirety of January and February, giving passengers more time to purchase cheaper flexible and season tickets at the existing rate.   

Due to unprecedented levels of inflation, the Government has, for this year only, aligned the increase to July 2022’s average earnings growth instead of RPI, more than halving the increase facing passengers, ensuring it’s easier on family finances while not overburdening taxpayers, who have subsidised the running of the railways to the tune of £31bn since the pandemic.   

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said:  

 “This is the biggest ever Government intervention in rail fares. I’m capping the rise well below inflation to help reduce the impact on passengers.

“It has been a difficult year and the impact of inflation is being felt across the UK economy. We do not want to add to the problem.  

“This is a fair balance between the passengers who use our trains and the taxpayers who help pay for them.” 

The rail industry is facing serious financial difficulty, which is why trade unions must agree to cost saving reforms. Taxpayers across the country contributed £31bn to the railways over the course of the pandemic, ensuring stability for staff and avoiding job losses.  Next year’s rail fares rightly strike a balance between the needs of rail passengers and taxpayers as we seek a sustainable long-term financial position following the pandemic.  

Over the years since privatisation, under both Conservative and Labour governments, regulated rail fares have increased closely in line with inflation, never being more than 1% above or below RPI. This Government, however, recognises the wider economic challenges currently passengers and has taken action to link this year's rate with July 2022’s average earnings growth, instead of RPI, and prevented an increase of 12.3%.

Notes to editors

• £31 billion of support over the course of the pandemic. The figure is the sum of UK government funding for day-to-day operation of the rail network in the UK for 2020/21 and 2021/22 as published by the ORR (Rail Industry Finance (UK), 29 November 2022). The figure primarily comprises of net franchise payments to operators and Network Rail Of the £31bn total support, £25.9bn was provided by the Department for Transport with the remainder met by Transport Scotland (£3.0bn), the Welsh Government (£0.7bn), TfL (£1.0bn) and Passenger Transport Executive (£0.2bn).  Even before the pandemic, governments were contributing over £4 billion per annum for day-to-day operations. Governments contributed £4.7billion (in 2021/22 prices) in the last full financial year before the pandemic.
• Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) is produced by the ONS and is the lead monthly measure of average weekly earnings per employee. It is calculated using information based on the Monthly Wages and Salaries Survey (MWSS), which samples around 9,000 employers in Great Britain. AWE was accredited a National Statistic in November 2009. 
• Retail Price Index (RPI) is a long-standing measure of UK inflation that has historically been used for a wide range of purposes such as the indexation of pensions and rents and index-linked gilts. In accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007, the Retail Prices Index and its derivatives have been assessed against the Code of Practice for Official Statistics and found not to meet the required standard for designation as National Statistics. [Source: ONS]

The cap will apply to all regulated rail fares in England. A list of all the national annual fare rises since privatisation is below: