Commuters on more expensive routes will save more than £300 per year under the plans (Picture: Getty Images)
Rail fares have been frozen for the ‘first time in 30 years’ in a bid to help commuters with the cost of living.
The cost of getting from A to B has been spiralling for years, with passengers often booking months in advance just to keep the price down.
If split ticket loopholes don’t work, others have skipped travelling by train altogether, as hopping on a plane was cheaper.
But Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander today unveiled plans to freeze ticket prices in the Budget next week.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has unveiled plans to freeze train fares in the Budget (Picture: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Most train fares are capped by the Government, meaning operators can only increase costs by so much for tickets like day singles and returns.
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Before today’s announcement, it was reported in August that train fares in England were expected to increase by 5.8% in 2026.
Campaign groups branded the rise an ‘outrageous rip off’, coming after ticket prices rose by 605 from 2010 to 2025, according to the government
The Treasury said millions of passengers won’t ‘pay a penny more’ on season tickets, peak returns for commuters and off-peak returns between major cities, saving them ‘hundreds of pounds off their season tickets’.
Commuters on more expensive routes will save more than £300 per year under the plans.
Reeves said: ‘We’re choosing to freeze rail fares for the first time in 30 years, which will ease the pressure on household finances and make travelling to work, school or to visit friends and family that bit easier.’
How much could you save?
The Treasury said commuters on some of the busiest routes will make significant savings.
A typical commuter travelling to work three days a week using flexi-season tickets will save:
- £57 per year travelling from Bradford to Leeds
- £315 per year travelling from Milton Keynes to London
- £173 per year travelling from Woking to London
The Transport Secretary added: ‘We all want to see cheaper rail travel, so we’re freezing fares to help millions of passengers save money.
‘Commuters on more expensive routes will save more than £300 per year, meaning they keep more of their hard-earned cash.
‘This is part of our wider plans to rebuild Great British Railways the public can be proud of and rely on.’
The freeze will apply to all regulated fares, including seasons, peak returns and off-peak returns between major cities.
This could impact more than a billion passenger journeys across England, according to the Treasury.
Ben Plowden, chief executive of the Campaign for Better Transport, told Metro: ‘We know that cost is the number one concern for people wanting to travel by train, so it is very welcome that fares will be frozen next year as we have been calling for.
The Treasury said the plans will impact more than a billion passenger journeys across England (Picture: Getty Images)
‘As well as helping households with the cost of living, this will enable more people to choose rail, reducing traffic on our roads, benefiting the economy, helping the environment and connecting communities across the country.
‘One of the Government’s six objectives for the reformed railways is that they should be affordable.
‘As plans for Great British Railways gather pace, this is a positive sign that affordability for passengers is being given the high priority it deserves.’
It comes after new rail fares were introduced across England and Wales from March 2, with new Scotrail fares introduced from April 1.
Figures from the Office of Rail and Road found that fares have risen 5.1% this year, compared with a 3.2% increase in the Retail Prices Index (RPI) between March 2024 and March 2025.
Regulated ticket prices have increased by 4.5% – slightly under the 4.6% cap in England and Wales. In Scotland, they rose by 3.8% in April this year.
Labour said ticket prices rose by 60% under the Conservatives (Picture: Getty Images)
Fares in London and the South East, which account for almost half of all fare revenue, increased by 5.2% compared with 2024.
Long-distance and regional fares increased by 5.4% and 4% respectively.
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Labour said a series of strikes under the Tories increased misery for commuters, disrupting journeys and hitting rail revenue by £850million.
The Conservatives welcomed today’s announcement but said the Government was ‘late to the platform’.
Shadow transport secretary Richard Holden said: ‘In government, the Conservatives kept fares on the right track with below-inflation rises and consistently called for no further hikes to protect hard-working commuters.’
Alex Robertson, chief executive of the watchdog Transport Focus, said: ‘We’ve always recognised there is a difficult balance to strike in how the railway is funded between fares and public subsidy. That makes today’s announcement particularly welcome.’
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