Updated 23 November, 24 November
Transport secretary Heidi Alexander has confirmed that regulated National Rail fares in England will be frozen in 2026, instead of rising by at least the RPI for July 2025, which was 4.8 per cent.
The government said: ‘The Chancellor is set to freeze fares at the Budget, with passengers not paying a penny more on season tickets, peak returns for commuters and off-peak returns between major cities.’
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: ‘Next week at the Budget I’ll set out the fair choices to deliver on the country’s priorities to cut NHS waiting lists, cut national debt and cut the cost of living. That’s why 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.’
The Scottish Government has already made rail travel cheaper by abolishing peak fares on ScotRail, and this decision will mean that English rail fares will be cheaper in real terms when inflation is taken into account.
It is not yet known what will happen to domestic fares in Scotland and Wales, because these are a matter for the devolved governments in Edinburgh and Cardiff. Open access operators, meanwhile, set their own fares.
It is also not yet clear what will happen to unregulated fares, which are decided in theory by operators (although they do not keep the revenue they collect, which is paid to the DfT). Seven English operators have already been renationalised, and are now controlled by DfT Operator Ltd, while the rest are due to pass into public ownership by 2027.
The transport secretary told the BBC only that ‘over a billion journeys next year will benefit from this freeze’. Last year, the Office of Rail and Road recorded a total of 1,729 million journeys on National Rail in Great Britain.
The announcement has been welcomed by the statutory watchdog Transport Focus.
Transport Focus chief executive Alex Robertson said: ‘Freezing fares will be extremely welcome news for rail passengers who consistently tell us value for money is their highest priority, alongside trains running on time. It should also make it more attractive for people to use the train more often or for the first time.
‘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.’
The train drivers’ union ASLEF has been calling for restraint and campaigning against ‘transport poverty’, which is when people cannot afford to travel for work or educational purposes, and it has also welcomed the freeze.
ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan said: ‘We are pleased that after 14 years of the Tories pricing people off our railways, this Labour government is helping people to commute to work and travel for pleasure.
‘This is the right decision, at the right time, to help passengers be able to afford to make that journey they need to take, and to help grow our railway in this country. Because the railway is Britain’s green alternative – taking cars and lorries off our congested roads and moving people and goods safely around our country in an environmentally-friendly way.
‘We want to encourage people on to public transport – on to buses and trains and an integrated transport network – and Heidi’s decision, made in conjunction with Rachel Reeves, is a testament to our lobbying and a vindication of our stand.’
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