The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne MP, announced last week that train operating companies will no longer be able to increase individual fares by up to 2% more than the permitted average increase. Before these changes were made, train operating companies could have raised fares on some regulated rail journeys by as much as 5.5%. However, as a result of these measures, which will cost £100m in total by 2015/16, no regulated rail fare will rise by more than 2.5% in 2015.
HM Government has, therefore, protected passengers by taking 3% off the maximum increase for a regulated fare. These announcements extend the freeze that was brought in at last year’s Autumn Statement, and will be the second year in a row that regulated fare rises have been capped at inflation.
This will reduce the cost of many of the one billion journeys made by rail passengers in England every year and for around a billion more made on the Tube. As a result of the changes made by HM Government, over a quarter of a million annual season ticket holders will have made a combined saving of around £75 over 2014 and 2015.
James said: “This is really good news for all rail users. Season ticket holders and people buying anytime single tickets can look forward to real savings on proposed price rises that would come into effect next year.”
Ranil added: “As a commuter myself, I know that this direction of travel will be welcome to people across North East Hampshire. I am committed to supporting hardworking families across our area through policies like this. And it’s only because this Government has taken difficult decisions on the public finances that it has been able to cap fare increases for the passengers on the platforms at Bramley, Hook, Winchfield and Fleet.”
HM Government has also pledged over £16 billion of support for the rail industry over the period from 2014 to 2019 in order to improve the capacity and quality of a network which is seeing a vast growth in demand.