Rail fares will increase in 2024 by 4.9%

A train ticket between Rochdale and Manchester

Rail fares will increase by 4.9% in March 2024.

The increase has been capped at 4.9% by the government, which means the increase is lower than the 9% July’s RPI figure on which they are historically based.

The announcement means fare increases are lower than last year’s rise and will not increase until 3 March 2024.

Passengers will not see any changes in their fares until then, giving some time for season tickets to be bought at the current rate and keep fares as low as possible for longer.

Fare changes will now take place in March every year moving forwards.

The regulated fare cap for National Rail operators in England is also significantly lower than in Scotland where rail fares are set to increase by 8.7% from April next year.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: “Having met our target of halving inflation across the economy, this is a significant intervention by the government to cap the increase in rail fares below last year's rise.

“Changed working patterns after the pandemic means that our railways are still losing money and require significant subsidies, so this rise strikes a balance to keep our railways running, while not overburdening passengers.”

"We remain committed to supporting the rail sector reform outdated working practices to help put it on a sustainable financial footing."

Last year the government capped the 2023 increase at 6.4 percentage points lower than the 2022 July RPI figure.

This means ticket prices have been kept at more than 9% lower than what passengers would have paid if rises matched the RPI benchmark in the last two years.