Rail fares in Wales to rise by 2.6% from Saint David’s Day

TRANSPORT for Wales will increase regulated rail fares by 2.6% on St David’s Day.

When the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the same increase for England, Labour described the move as a “kick in the teeth” which would discourage people from using trains when Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.

The Labour Welsh Government owns Transport for Wales (TfW) and sets its strategic objectives. The DfT announced on December 16 that English fares would increase on March 1.

TfW has now disclosed its increase for 1 March following an inquiry from our sister paper the Western Mail.

Fares increases are always calculated using the old Retail Prices Index (RPI), rather than the lower Consumer Prices Index.

This year an extra 1% will be added for regulated fares in Wales and England while Scottish regulated fares will increase by RPI only, or 1.6%.

A TfW spokesman said: “We are aligning ourselves with the current DfT position of an RPI+1 increase in regulated fares from 1 March 2021, helping keep fares simple for people travelling between Wales and the rest of the UK rail network. Rail fares help us to fund our investment as affordably as possible for both rail passengers and taxpayers.

“Any investment will provide faster journeys, more frequent services, brand new rolling stock and station improvements throughout the Wales and Borders network.”

The prices of some unregulated fares are not increasing on March 1.

“We understand the need to bring people back to public transport when Covid-19 restrictions end and we’ll implement a price freeze on some of our rail products such as local rover and rangers, local railcards and our SailRail product,” said the spokesman.

“For the future we’re already looking at a payzone pilot for the South Wales Metro, multiflex improvements and the potential for rail-bus integrated ticketing pilots.

“Since taking over the franchise in 2018, we’ve already implemented some key schemes such as allday free travel for children under 11, free off-peak travel for children under 16, a 10% reduction on fares to/from North Wales and a reduction of fares in certain valley zones by 12.5%.”

On December 16, Jim McMahon MP, Labour’s shadow transport secretary, said: “By allowing yet another fare hike, the [UK] Government will make rail travel unaffordable for many and discourage people from getting back on to the network when restrictions ease.

“The Government’s failure means Britain is facing the worst recession of any major economy. This will be yet another kick in the teeth for families struggling to get by.”

Asked why Labour was increasing Welsh fares by the same percentage despite Labour’s earlier criticism, a spokesman for Welsh transport minister Ken Skates said: “In Wales we are committed to supporting our national railway and to providing the vital services that passengers need.

“You can see this in the new £750m upgrade of the Metro we have recently started work on and in the £100m of additional emergency funding that we have made available just this year to keep our rail network running through the pandemic.

“Changing fares is never an easy decision, but it helps provide the investment for the vital infrastructure and services our economy and our communities need.”

In December the DfT said its increase reflected the need for more investment and would “help recover some of the significantly increased costs met by taxpayers to keep services running during the pandemic”.

TfW Rail, which took over train operations from Keolis Amey on 7 February, faces the same financial problems. Mr Skates recently informed the Senedd’s Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee that the Welsh Government would provide a total rail subsidy of about £335m in 2020-21.

He added: “Based on continued ‘low’ projected passenger patronage, the costs of rail services alone next year could be in the order of £330m-340m again.”

Rail campaign group Railfuture Wales urged TfW to provide special offers once the public could use trains for non-essential journeys again.

Chair Peter Kingsbury said: “Welsh railways face a challenging few years as a result of the pandemic.

“Any fare increase above inflation needs to be accompanied by a range of initiatives to encourage the public to start using the trains again.

“These could include special offers to get people to consider using rail for days out and holidays once restrictions are lifted, and the introduction of flexible season tickets.”