To coincide with the brutal 3.8% train fares hike announced by the Government this morning, Labour has compared the costs on over 180 train routes between when the Conservatives came to power and the projected new prices that will be implemented next year.

The average commuter faces paying a staggering £3,263 for their season ticket – £1,069, or 49% more, than in 2010.

New figures released today by Labour show:

• Average fares will rise to 48.9% more than they were in 2010.
• That some commuters will be paying over £3,900 more to travel to work than in 2010.
• The highest increase is projected to be on a season ticket between Birmingham and London Euston which will have risen by £3,901 since 2010 and will now cost £11,929.
• The biggest percentage increase identified was between Thame Bridge Parkway near Walsall and Nuneaton, where the cost of an annual season ticket will have risen by 69% since 2010.
• In Boris Johnson’s Uxbridge constituency, the cost of an annual season ticket from West Drayton to London Paddington has risen by £715 since 2010.
• Average fares have risen twice as fast as wages.

Louise Haigh MP, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, said:

“This brutal Tory fare hike will be a nightmare before Christmas for millions of passengers.

“Families already facing soaring taxes and bills will now be clobbered with an eye-watering rise in the cost of the daily commute.

“People up and down this country are paying the price for a cost of living crisis made in Downing Street.

“Many will wonder what planet Ministers are on if they think people can afford this?”

The average commuter will be paying £3,263 for their season ticket in 2022, £1,069 more than in 2010.

The average 2017 annual season ticket reportedly costs £2,788. Regulated rail fares rose by 27.1% between 2010 and 2017, which means that the average season ticket in 2010 would have cost £2,194. A 49% (from 2010-2022) increase on £2,194 is £3,263.

Top 5 highest rises in cash terms

Top 5 highest rises in percentage terms

Fare rises in Ministers’ constituencies

Season ticket data for 2010 has been taken from the Avantix Traveller (National Fares Manual) database. 

2022 are based on a 3.8% increase on 2021 prices which have been taken from the National Rail season ticket calculator. 

• Regulated rail fares, which include season tickets and most other commuter tickets, will have risen by 50% on average between 2010 and 2022.

• Regulated fares have risen by more than the average on some routes because Ministers decided to restore ‘flex,’ the train companies’ right to vary prices by up to 5%, between 2011 and 2014.
• In September 2014 the Department for Transport introduced a new evening peak period in metropolitan areas on the Northern franchise, which raised the cost of travel by up to 162%.

• Median weekly wages grew by 22.5% between 2010 and 2021

ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2020, 26 October 2021