Rail fare freeze welcomed but major reforms still needed, say campaigners

A rail fare freeze lasting until March 2027 is a welcome change for Maidenhead and Slough passengers — but work needs to be done to simplify fares and sort out infrastructure, says a rail group.

The Government has said regulated fares in England, including season tickets, commuter peak returns and off-peak returns between major cities, will be frozen.

Regulated fares are ticket types whose prices the Government directly controls. Train companies cannot raise these beyond the limit the government sets each year.

This is different to unregulated fares — tickets the Government doesn’t control — such as Advance tickets or many off-peak singles. Train companies can price these however they like.

It is the first time in three decades that regulated fares have been frozen, and the Government said it was to ‘ease the cost of living’ and part of ‘wider plans to rebuild Great British Railways’.

But while the pause on fare increases has been greeted positively by campaigners, there is still work to be done, say some.

Railfuture is an independent organisation ‘campaigning for a bigger, better railway’.

David Richardson, from its Thames Valley branch, said the freeze will not be enough to address the persistent issues faced by passengers.

Reliability, for example, remains a major concern for the region.

The GWR main line between Reading and London Paddington continues to face signalling and track problems, with regular disruption for commuters in Maidenhead and Slough.

Mr Richardson said Network Rail has been asked repeatedly to explain the recurring issues, and passengers ‘need to see that fixed’ if trust in the network is to improve.

The group would also like to see changes such as reinstating the former line between Bourne End and High Wycombe, which could create a direct Maidenhead to High Wycombe connection and open up longer-distance routes.

Mr Richardson says similar reopenings in Oxfordshire show that such projects can succeed if councils push for them.

He also lauded Oxfordshire County Council’s ‘very bold’ 15-year plan to transform rail transport up to 2040.

In general, he feels local authorities in Berkshire and Buckinghamshire could afford to take a leaf out of Oxfordshire’s book and ‘show more interest’.

While Oxfordshire ‘is very switched on to rail’ — lobbying for reopening lines and providing funding – authorities in Berkshire and Buckinghamshire are ‘rather less so’, he said.

When councils show interest, that forces the rail industry to take notice, Mr Richardson said.

Congestion on local roads is unlikely to ease without stronger rail alternatives, he added.

Another broader problem is the ‘very complex and confusing’ structure of rail fares.

Passengers face wildly different prices for the same journey depending on when and how they book.

Mr Richardson pointed to long-distance day trips from Maidenhead as an example. A return to Bristol leaving about 10am can cost £85 through the main National Rail system, yet the same journey using split ticketing websites can be as low as about £53.

“There are quite extreme examples of how much you can save with this kind of system,” said Mr Richardson.

“That doesn’t make sense and it would be good to see the whole thing simplified.”