No RIP for RPI fare rises

Hello

Today we learned that regulated rail fares will go up by 2.8 per cent in January. This is because the Government still uses the Retail Price Index (RPI) to set fare rises, despite RPI being a discredited means of measuring inflation and despite the previous transport secretary saying that future rises would be pegged to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) instead.

We know that high rail fares aren’t providing value for money when so many passengers endure overcrowding, delays and cancellations on a weekly basis. We’ve been calling for the Government to replace RPI with CPI for fare increases since 2013 (this table shows how much passengers would have paid if CPI had been used to set rail fare increases since 2014 when RPI was dropped as a national statistic).

Today, we’re calling on the Government to end RPI fare rises and set January 2020’s increase at the lower rate of CPI. Passengers deserve this at the very least.

The Williams’ Rail Review is due to conclude with its recommendations for the railways in November. The Review should outline a comprehensive package of fares reforms to help restore passenger faith in the railways.

Until next time,

Darren