Commuters travelling to work by train have been spared part of a planned fare rise in January after George Osborne bowed to political pressure to raise fares only by the level of inflation.
Regulated rail fares will now rise by a maximum of 2.5 per cent next year, after the chancellor agreed to lower the cap from 3.5 per cent.
He has also scrapped a “flex” rule that would have allowed train companies to raise fares by an additional 2 per cent on some routes.
Mr Osborne’s decision comes as commuters working in northern towns including Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds face a “stealth” price rise of up to 162 per cent from tomorrow after Northern Rail decided to scrap off-peak evening fares on some services.
Rail unions and campaigners said that part-time and shift workers would be hardest hit by the move.
Advertisement
Announcing his decision to hold down rail fare rises in The Sun on Sunday newspaper, the chancellor said: “It’s only because we’ve taken difficult decisions on the public finances that we can afford to help families further.”
It is the second year running that Mr Osborne has set the cap on rail fares at the July RPI figure, rather than the planned RPI plus one per cent. He claimed that the move would save season-ticket holders £75 across 2014 and 2015. Labour dismissed it as a ploy and said that regulated fares had risen by more than 20 per cent since 2010.
Commuters in Mr Osborne’s own constituency of Tatton will be among those affected by today’s separate price rise. From today, off-peak tickets are no longer valid on many weekday train services between 4.01pm and 6.29pm in Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, Derbyshire and Cheshire.
The change means that a return journey from Rochdale to Wigan will now cost £11, up 162 per cent. Other fares rising sharply include a return from Hexham to Newcastle, which doubles to £7.10, while the cost of commuting between Wigan and Manchester will rise from £4.20 to £9.10 for a day return.
Mary Creagh, the shadow transport secretary, said that the bungled handling of the West Coast franchise, which cost taxpayers at least £50 million, was to blame for the increases. “People shouldn’t have to choose between paying more or waiting until after dark to travel,” she said. “Commuting looks very different when you’re travelling in the back seat of a government car.”
Advertisement
Northern Rail, which is the most heavily subsidised rail franchise, said the changes had been made because the Department of Transport had asked the company to look at additional ways of generating income.
Martin Abrams, from the Campaign for Better Transport, said: “This fare increase threatens to make rail travel unaffordable to tens of thousands of part-time workers.”
Mick Cash, acting general secretary of the RMT, said: “The axing of off-peak fares is a savage kick in the teeth for people already struggling with the burden of low pay and austerity.”
Northern Rail and the Department for Transport said they expected only a “minority of passengers to be affected”