Imminent rail fares rise sparks protests

Protests will be held outside railway stations amid mounting anger over an expected 3.5 per cent increase in regulated train fares.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) will stage demonstrations today outside stations in cities including Edinburgh, London, Birmingham and Cardiff. The union claims passengers are paying “through the nose” for overcrowded services.

Research published this week found the cost of rail travel has increased at more than twice the speed of wages since 2008. The TUC said fares have risen by 42 per cent over the past ten years. Nominal weekly earnings have only grown 18 per cent.

Many long-distance commuters will see the annual cost of getting to work increase by more than £150 next year. The Department for Transport (DFT) uses the July Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation to determine the cap on the annual increase in regulated train fares. Economists predict this will be around 3.5 per cent, but the exact figure will be released by the Office for National Statistics at 9:30am today.

Regulated fares include season tickets on most commuter routes, some off-peak return tickets on long-distance journeys and Anytime tickets around major cities.

The Scottish Government caps regulated offpeak fare increases at RPI minus one percentage point.