Rail commuters get boost as Osborne caps fare rises
Rail fare increases will be capped at 2.5 per cent for 2015 in a bid to help hard-pressed commuters, the government has announced.
Chancellor George Osborne said the move, which limits price hikes of regulated rail fares to the rate of inflation, was a bid to help taxpayers, and was only possible because of other austerity measures.
Passengers were expecting annual rises in January of up to 5.5 per cent. But the new rules, which the Treasury says will cost £100m, mean that regulated fares such as season tickets, singles and off-peak intercity returns will stay closer to their current rate.
The announcement extends the freeze that was brought in at last year’s Autumn Statement, and will be the second year that regulated fare rises have been capped at inflation.
Osborne said: “Support for hardworking taxpayers is at the heart of our long term economic plan. It’s only because we’ve taken difficult decisions on the public finances that we can afford to help families further.
“I can announce that no regulated rail fares will rise by more than inflation in 2015, which together with last year’s freeze will save season ticket holders around £75 over 2014 and 2015.”
The news came as the Treasury warned rail chiefs that they must also limit executive pay, after Network Rail came under government control.
According to the Sunday Times, the Treasury told bosses to think how plans would be viewed by the popular press, limit the number of salaries higher than the Prime Minister’s £142,500 pay and secure Treasury approval for any pay over £220,000.
Network Rail is more accountable as a result of a change in accounting rules, which puts the firm’s £34bn debt on the Treasury’s books. Ministers can now scrutinise the network’s business and contracts.
The newspaper report cited an edict sent to Network Rail staff, warning them to get Treasury for “novel, contentious or repercussive” projects.
Treasury staff did not comment.