Increase in rail fares to be announced

Rail passengers will soon find out how much more expensive their fares will be next year.

The average increase will be announced by industry body the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) at 7am on Friday.

Many long-distance commuters will see the annual cost of getting to work rise by more than £100 when the new fares come into force on January 2.

The new prices for all fares will be available online and at ticket offices.

Fewer than half (45%) of passengers are satisfied with the value for money of train tickets, according to a survey by watchdog Transport Focus.

The increase in around 40% of fares, including season tickets, is regulated by the UK, Scottish and Welsh Governments.

This is predominantly capped at July’s RPI figure, which was 3.2%.

Other fare rises are decided by train companies.

There have been calls for prices to be frozen following chaos caused by the implementation of new timetables in May.

Train punctuality slipped to a 12-year low in the summer and 14% of services failed to meet the industry’s punctuality target in the 12 months to November 10.

That means one in seven trains arrived at terminating stations more than five minutes late for commuter services or 10 minutes late for long-distance journeys.

On Thursday rail regulator the Office of Rail and Road launched formal action against Network Rail.

It ordered the Government-owned company to improve its management of Britain’s rail infrastructure or face the possibility of fines and being sued by train companies for lost revenue.