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Author Topic: Regulated rail fare increase, March 2023  (Read 2311 times)
JayMac
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« on: December 22, 2022, 12:43:29 »

Regulated rail fares, which include season tickets on most commuter journeys, off-peak return tickets on longer distance journeys, and some shorter distance anytime tickets, will rise in March 2023 by an average of 5.9%.


www.theguardian.com/money/2022/dec/22/rail-fares-in-england-to-increase-by-up-to-59-in-march

Could've been worse. The usual formula for fares rises is RPI (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context))+1% using the previous July's RPI figure. Had that formula been used the increase would've been 13.3%.
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« Reply #1 on: December 22, 2022, 14:36:00 »

Regulated rail fares, which include season tickets on most commuter journeys, off-peak return tickets on longer distance journeys, and some shorter distance anytime tickets, will rise in March 2023 by an average of 5.9%.


www.theguardian.com/money/2022/dec/22/rail-fares-in-england-to-increase-by-up-to-59-in-march

Could've been worse. The usual formula for fares rises is RPI (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context))+1% using the previous July's RPI figure. Had that formula been used the increase would've been 13.3%.

Very political move by the Government, there will be a very painful budget 15 March 2023 along with the Offgen price increase not good for a Prime Minister who will want to be lining up for a General Election 18 months after these
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« Reply #2 on: December 22, 2022, 14:49:58 »


 Still quite an increase, I'd have thought the 'government' might have had a freeze on the
 increase. As they occasionally do with fuel duty.
 
  Certainly does not help someone spending £100 per week/month having their fares increase £5/£6.
 
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grahame
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« Reply #3 on: December 22, 2022, 15:45:34 »

The official explanation

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/biggest-government-intervention-ever-to-keep-rail-fares-down

Quote
The government has acted with the biggest intervention in its history to ensure rail fare increases for 2023 are capped at 5.9%, 6.4 percentage points lower than RPI (Revenue Protection Inspector (or Retail Price Index, depending on the context)) 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 £31 bilion 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 (United Kingdom) 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 £31 billion 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%.
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« Reply #4 on: December 22, 2022, 17:52:51 »

I note the cynical line "Fares will officially rise on 5 March 2023 and like last year, the government is freezing them for the entirety of January and February". In fact the main 2021 fares change was delayed from January to March while the government dithered over what to do in view of the pandemic, with all sorts of rumours about doing something really innovative to support the railways.  As we know that came to nothing, but they eventually spun the delay as a deliberate freeze for passengers' benefit when it had been nothing of the sort or they would have trumpeted it months earlier.
 
Come 2022 and there was no way the fares could change before March or there would have been cries of "2 increases within 10 months", and 2023 is no different.  It would be a brave government that ever reverts to a January change, except by skipping a year (which is actually what a lot of people chose to believe was going to happen back in 2021).  It would make far more sense to move it forward to May or December, to align with the timetable change date; March was a complete accident and has no logic to it.
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ChrisB
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« Reply #5 on: December 22, 2022, 18:07:14 »

Sort of gives you an indication of where they intend to finally settle for the pay rises.
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grahame
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« Reply #6 on: December 23, 2022, 09:07:02 »

Sort of gives you an indication of where they intend to finally settle for the pay rises.

Maybe.  In some ways, I'm disappointed that we seem to have another year without a proper update to the fare system - we're talking percentage rises and not a new fare system that replaces the current one which is really not fit for purpose in may ways.  However, in the current environment of mistrust between the government who control the railways and the representatives of staff who work on them, any such changes could be viewed with suspicion, so I suppose it's not the right year to do it.
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« Reply #7 on: December 24, 2022, 07:51:15 »

Sort of gives you an indication of where they intend to finally settle for the pay rises.

Maybe.  In some ways, I'm disappointed that we seem to have another year without a proper update to the fare system - we're talking percentage rises and not a new fare system that replaces the current one which is really not fit for purpose in may ways.  However, in the current environment of mistrust between the government who control the railways and the representatives of staff who work on them, any such changes could be viewed with suspicion, so I suppose it's not the right year to do it.

There will be no significant change to the Rail Fare structure until GBR (Great British Railways) made a legal entity.
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« Reply #8 on: December 24, 2022, 08:20:57 »

The government implication that they were somehow doing us a great big favour by limiting the fare rise to only 5.9% really got up my nose!

How about no more increases until the DfT» (Department for Transport - about) et al have figured out how to run the industry properly? Then we the taxpayer might not have to cough up for things like the Class 769 debacle!
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TaplowGreen
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« Reply #9 on: December 24, 2022, 09:26:35 »

The government implication that they were somehow doing us a great big favour by limiting the fare rise to only 5.9% really got up my nose!

How about no more increases until the DfT» (Department for Transport - about) et al have figured out how to run the industry properly? Then we the taxpayer might not have to cough up for things like the Class 769 debacle!

and if there's no more fare increases, how are the additional costs to the railway funded and who pays?
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ChrisB
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« Reply #10 on: December 24, 2022, 12:22:08 »

From The BBC» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

Quote
Peak ScotRail fares to be scrapped for six months

Peak fares on ScotRail are to be suspended for six months in a bid to make train travel more affordable.

The pilot scheme will begin at some point in 2023/24 and will be subsidised by £15m from the Scottish government's latest budget.

The move will see the cost of some peak hour, or anytime, ScotRail fares nearly halve.

Unions and passenger groups have welcomed the plan as a way of coaxing people back to the railways.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney made the announcement in his 2023/24 budget statement, saying that removing peak time fares was "a way of making rail travel more affordable and attractive to travellers".

Full details of the pilot project for the publicly-owned train operator will be announced as part of Transport Scotland's Fair Fares Review due to be published early next year.

ScotRail and other train operators have still to see passenger numbers return to pre-Covid levels with changes in working patterns resulting in peak time services being less busy.

Train driver union Aslef, which has been campaigning to get rid of peak time fares, said Mr Swinney's announcement was "very welcome news".

Kevin Lindsay, the union's full-time organiser in Scotland, added: "However, ending peak fares should not be a temporary measure.

"Peak fares are a tax on workers and if we are to encourage more people from road travel on to trains to help Scotland meet its climate targets, we need to invest for the long term and make this a permanent policy."

Robert Samson, of passenger watchdog Transport Focus, said: "This is a welcome initiative that will benefit thousands of passengers and act as an incentive for non-users to change to a more sustainable travel mode."

That'll hurt when the scheme finishes....
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ray951
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« Reply #11 on: December 24, 2022, 17:33:58 »

The government implication that they were somehow doing us a great big favour by limiting the fare rise to only 5.9% really got up my nose!

How about no more increases until the DfT» (Department for Transport - about) et al have figured out how to run the industry properly? Then we the taxpayer might not have to cough up for things like the Class 769 debacle!

and if there's no more fare increases, how are the additional costs to the railway funded and who pays?

From the Government, same as for roads.

Maybe the annual increase in rail fares should match the annual increase in fuel duty? And see how much some drivers complain if it was the other way around. Just to be clear I am also a car driver and owner.
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ChrisB
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« Reply #12 on: December 24, 2022, 17:36:12 »

There is talk of the fuel duty being raised in catch-up at the Spring budget in March...20-odd% it'll be.
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TaplowGreen
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« Reply #13 on: December 26, 2022, 10:47:37 »

The government implication that they were somehow doing us a great big favour by limiting the fare rise to only 5.9% really got up my nose!

How about no more increases until the DfT» (Department for Transport - about) et al have figured out how to run the industry properly? Then we the taxpayer might not have to cough up for things like the Class 769 debacle!

and if there's no more fare increases, how are the additional costs to the railway funded and who pays?

From the Government, same as for roads.




aka the taxpayer
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ChrisB
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« Reply #14 on: February 06, 2023, 11:56:36 »

In some ways, I'm disappointed that we seem to have another year without a proper update to the fare system - we're talking percentage rises and not a new fare system that replaces the current one which is really not fit for purpose in may ways.  However, in the current environment of mistrust between the government who control the railways and the representatives of staff who work on them, any such changes could be viewed with suspicion, so I suppose it's not the right year to do it.

There will be no significant change to the Rail Fare structure until GBR (Great British Railways) made a legal entity.

Hmm. These posts are going to age quickly....tomorrows announcement upcoming from the Minister at least going the right direction in a major way
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