Unfair! Tube fares will go up by 4.3% next year

And some could rise by as much as 9%

Tube fares will go up by 4.3% on average next year, Whitehall officials admitted yesterday.

Next week, the Office for National Statistics will reveal the cost of train, tube and bus journeys when it publishes the July RPI inflation figures. City experts forecast the figure to be 3.3%.

Fares are allowed to rise by 1% above RPI (the Retail Prices Index measure of inflation as calculated by the ONS), and are increased according to a formula set by Whitehall. It means that from January tube, train and bus fares will go up by 4.3%, the Evening Standard reports.

Train companies can increase prices on some routes, providing their average ticket prices remain 1% above RPI. A Department for Transport told the Evening Standard that this rule could mean some fares rising by 9%.

David Sidebottom, from Passenger Focus, told the paper: “For passengers who rely on the train for work, the prospect of more inflation-busting fare rises is a worrying one.

“Passengers already pay some of the highest fares in Europe and our most recent passenger survey showed that just 43% of passengers in London and the South East felt that their ticket was value for money.”

Shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle hit out at David Cameron and George Osborne for being “out of touch” with commuters’ cost of living crisis.

“David Cameron and George Osborne are totally out of touch with the cost of living crisis facing Britain’s commuters,” she said. “Another fare rise of up to 9% will yet again expose as a complete sham the Prime Minister’s pledge to limit fare rises to one per cent above inflation.”

A Department for Transport spokesman said: “We want to see railways, and the benefits they deliver to our economy, grow so we are investing record amounts in the network. But we also recognise the need to give rail passengers a better deal on fares. That is why we have capped rail fare rises at RPI+1.

“And it is why we will announce a range of further measures to benefit the passenger when we publish our fares and ticketing review later in the year.”