Ministers have pledged to keep next year’s increase in regulated rail fares below the current RPI rate of inflation, which has now hit 12.3%.
Rail firms are usually allowed to raise fares every new year to a level no higher than the RPI inflation rate from the previous July plus 1%.
Last month’s RPI figure, which was announced on Wednesday morning, was 12.3%, with the more widely recognised CPI measure at 10.1%.
In advance of the announcement, a Department for Transport (DfT) said: ‘The Government is taking decisive action to reduce the impact inflation will have on rail fares during the cost of living crisis and will not be increasing fares as much as the July RPI figure.
‘We are also again delaying the increase to March 2023, temporarily freezing fares for passengers to travel at a lower price for the entirety of January and February as we continue to take steps to help struggling households.’
Campaign for Better Transport has called for a tax on aviation fuel on domestic flights to help fund a rail freeze and boost rail passenger numbers.
The campaign group said that taxing kerosene on domestic flights at the same rate as for petrol and diesel would raise £1.53bn, enough to fund a rail fare freeze.
Chief executive Paul Tuohy said: 'Even a minus RPI rail fare rise next year will hit passengers hard and could mean people stay away from the trains altogether.
'The Government must go further and commit to a fare freeze for 2023 now so that commuters are not left with the uncertainly of whether they’ll be able to afford to get to work next year.'
Separately, the Sunday Times reported that ministers are looking to improve so called flexible season tickets after sales failed to take off. It said the DfT has asked government-controlled Southeastern railway to work on improvements.
As Transport Network has reported, the new tickets, which were launched last year based on the carnet model, offer low levels of discount compared to traditional season tickets and some passengers travelling three days a week will still find it cheaper to buy full-time seasons.
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