Rail commuters brace for more punitive fare hikes Business

Commuters will have to pay hundreds of pounds more for their season tickets next year as inflation continues to soar, economists have warned.

Tariffs could rise by almost 12% unless the government breaks the links between the retail price index and annual tariff increases.

Paul Dales of Capital Economics predicted that the index’s annual growth would hit 11.8% in July, which would be the highest since the 1980s.

The July figure is usually used to calculate the rate increase each January, although the increase has been deferred to March for the past two years.

Ministers could cut the rate by 1 percentage point, which last happened in 2003, although the increase would still squash previous record increases of 6% achieved in 2009 and 2012.

An 11.8% increase would add nearly £529 to the cost of an annual subscription from Brighton to London.

It threatens to put even more pressure on household budgets in the context of the wider cost of living crisis, which is expected to intensify towards the end of the year following the raising of the price cap on oil. energy in October.

In its report from the Monetary Policy Committee, released on Thursday, the Bank of England predicted soaring energy costs would drive annual consumer price index inflation to an average of 9.5% in the third quarter of the year.