A three-year freeze: getting public transport back on track

Rail passengers in the UK are set to be hit by the largest fare rise in nine years from March 2022. Rail is an integral part of our transport network in the UK, but it has suffered greatly during the pandemic. Now more than ever, we need to incentivise passengers back to using trains. However, with ticket prices increasing by up to 3.8%, and against a backdrop of rapidly rising inflation and cost of living issues, the risk is that we drive away increased customers at the very point when we need them the most. What can the rail sector do to avoid this and draw passengers back to the network?

The past 18 months have placed an unsustainable burden on public expenses and put at risk the continuation of timetables and services, as well as operator viability, across the country. This hike in fares is unlikely to help with one of the greatest complaints that passengers have about rail – affordability and value for money.

Train fare prices have increased by 111% since 2000, and this year UK passengers will see the largest hike since 2013. On this trajectory, rail fares are on track to increase by over a third by 2030 which may make rail travel unviable for many.

How can we combat a hike in price, and increase passenger usage?

Whereas passengers have often begrudgingly accepted the increasing prices year on year as a means to an end to make vital commuter trips (on-peak tickets saw a rise of 93% since 2004), the pandemic has put an abrupt end to that.

The rail industry has seen huge and likely long last changes to passenger behavioural habits created by the pandemic. There has been an 81% reduction in peak-time usage and it is very unlikely that we will see any return, in the near future or at any point, to regular pre-COVID travel numbers for these commuter hours and tickets. With more flexible working arrangements and considerations for the means of travel, customers can only be further discouraged to use rail and pay the price for the sector’s failure to adapt.

Calling for a three-year fare freeze

We are calling for an immediate freeze on rail fares in the UK for the next three years and urging the government to re-consider the recently announced 3.8% fare increase in order to encourage passengers back to the network. Price is always identified as the most important factor to British public transport users. We firmly believe that increasing the affordability of rail would act as one of the strongest incentives for both commuters and leisure travellers.

Train price inflation started overtaking wages in 2009, and since then has reached an exorbitant 97% of wage and salary inflation to date. It is simply not right that the price of rail outstrips that of wages and consumer price inflation by such a significant margin. If the government is serious about moving travellers from road to rail, freezing ticket prices for only 33% of the time that fuel duty has been frozen would be a positive commitment.

Accelerating a sustainable return to the network

This issue is also part of a much greater one – fulfilling our carbon emission reduction goals. Alongside decarbonisation of the network, the UK must incentivise people to use public transport via a rail fare freeze as a means to supporting and meeting our net-zero targets.

The Transport sector is still the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the UK. Combined with passengers increasingly becoming accustomed to using cars to decrease their exposure to COVID-19 when travelling, now more than ever we need to encourage – not dissuade – people to use alternatives to petrol and diesel cars.

Rail is the cleanest and greenest method in the movement of people and the movement of goods, on mass, across the country. We must do all we can to make consumers choose rail as an alternative, carbon efficient method of transportation. A key factor in this process of incentivisation is by creating transparency through measures like carbon labeling, an approach which is supported by 81% of consumers as a way of showing the environmental impact of your journey.

Carbon calculators are already being offered by some train operating companies; however, we believe a unified method would prove most effective. The Department for Transport is reportedly working with the Civil Aviation Authority on the benefits of “mandating the provision of environmental information to customers” via airline tickets. We advocate the same mandating on all rail tickets immediately.

Prioritising customer experience

At GHD, we think it all comes down to consumers’ choices. To decarbonise rail and make the sector successful again, consumers must want to choose rail – and this will be done by improving customer experience and value for money before any further price increases.

If the government is serious about moving travellers from road to rail, freezing ticket prices for only a third of the time that fuel duty has been frozen would be a positive step towards that. A three-year commitment should incentivise passengers back to the network and allow time for the industry to, first, recover and then prepare and plan for future travel habits across the UK.