Train fares are about to rise by 5.9% – but travellers can save by booking early

Train fares are going up by 5.9 per cent this weekend – but travellers can beat the hikes by buying tickets before the deadline.

The price of thousands of train tickets is rising on Sunday, 5 March. Most of the price hikes will be capped at 5.9 per cent, because the Government stepped in to curb even higher fare rises. 

Normally the price of regulated rail fares can go up every year by the level of inflation in the previous July, plus one per cent.

But because inflation was 12.3 per cent for the qualifying month, Government intervened to say train operators could not put up rates by more than average earnings growth for that month – 5.9 per cent.

Any train tickets bought before March 5 will be priced at current levels, meaning travellers could make big savings by booking travel in advance.

Which train tickets are going up in price?

The 5.9 per cent price hike is the maximum the Government allows for regulated train fares, which make up 45 per cent of all train travel.

These include season tickets for most commuters, many long-distance off-peak return tickets and ‘anytime’ tickets near major cities.

The 5.9 per cent figure is the average that train operators are allowed to increase prices by across all of their regulated fares. 

So fares may go up by more or less than this, depending on your route.

Most train operators have not yet announced their plans for fare hikes, but the ones that have are sticking to the 5.9 per cent average figure.

Outside of regulated fares, train operators get to decide their own prices for 65 per cent of train trips.

These include first class and advance tickets.