Rail fare rise ‘piles further misery on hard-pressed households’, say campaigners

2 March 2025

“With food and energy costs going up, today’s rail fare rise will pile further misery on hard-pressed households. Cost is the number one barrier to getting more people travelling by rail, so the Government must address the rising cost of train travel as part of its forthcoming rail reforms. The majority of the public are in favour of a publicly owned railway, but this support all but vanishes if fares were to continue to increase. If the Government wants to do something genuinely popular, get Britain moving and help people with the cost of living, it should be making rail fares cheaper.”

Campaign for Better Transport analysis of season ticket costs reveals that out of 40 popular commuter routes into London, three will see season tickets newly go above £6,000 from Sunday (2 March), while annual season tickets from Canterbury and Southampton into London will cost £7,100 and £7,477 respectively.

An annual season ticket from Macclesfield to Manchester will rise by £146 while an annual season ticket from York to Leeds will rise by £133.

In addition to the above inflation rail fare rise, the cost of some railcards, which since 2013 have been priced at £30 a year, will increase by £5.

Research by the charity for its recent report Fix Fares for Good, revealed that 44 per cent of people are put off travelling by train by the cost, with 71 per cent of people saying cheaper fares would make them more likely to travel by train.

ENDS

For further information please contact the press office on 07984 773 468 (calls only no texts) or communications@bettertransport.org.uk.

See example 2025 season ticket costs into London

See example 2025 season tickets costs into regional stations

1. 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 ‘What stops you from travelling more by rail?’, 44% of respondents said ‘train travel is too expensive’; 37% said ‘it is more convenient to drive’; 21% said ‘trains don’t go where I need to go’; 21% said ‘trains are too frequently cancelled or delayed’; 14% said ‘my nearest station is too far away’; 10% said ‘trains are too infrequent’; 6% said ‘none of these’; 5% said ‘other’; and 13% said ‘not applicable: I don’t want / need to travel by train’.

2. 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’.

3. 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.

4. Campaign for Better Transport operates in England and Wales. Campaign for Better Transport’s vision is for all communities to have access to high quality, sustainable transport that meets their needs, improves quality of life and protects the environment. Campaign for Better Transport Charitable Trust is a registered charity (1101929).