Regulated rail fares are going up again next year but rather than the usual increase in January, the government has delayed the start date to 1 March 2021.
The rates are set to increase by 2.6% in the spring; this is essentially July 2020’s inflation rate as measured by the Retail Price Index (RPI), which was 1.6%, plus an extra percentage.
In context, this increase is actually slightly less than this year – regulated rail prices went up by an average of 2.7% in 2020. But this big increase was largely down to the comparatively higher inflation rate in July 2019, which was 2.8%.
So despite being a marginally smaller increase, the rate is in fact the first time rail fares have risen above inflation since 2013.
The good news is, if you are still a regular commuter, you’ll have until 28 February 2021 to renew your season ticket at this year’s prices.
