A short history of rail fare rises

Some things can always be relied upon in January. Cold weather, a surge in new gym memberships, an arduous wait for the next pay packet and, in recent years at least, a rise in rail fares. 2019 is certainly no exception and as figures from Rail Delivery Group show, effective from today, there has been an average price hike of 3.1 percent in England and Wales. In Scotland the figure comes in at just under 3 percent. While this is significantly below the rises of 2011 and 2012, critics say that after a year of widespread cancellations and the poorest punctuality record in years, the latest increase is not justifiable. Protests are planned around the country today, at which it will also be highlighted that the fare increases outstrip the average 2.6 percent wage growth seen in 2018.