Rail Partners’ response to the Autumn Budget 2024

On the 4.6% increase in fares from March 2025, Rail Partners chief executive, Andy Bagnall, said: 

‘Government should set fares at a level that will ultimately encourage more people to travel by train in the future, helping to secure the long-term financial sustainability of the sector and capture the wider economic and environmental benefits of rail for the nation as a whole. The focus must be on growing passenger numbers, not making current passengers pay more.’ 

On the fuel duty freeze, Rail Partners chief executive, Andy Bagnall, said:  

‘While today’s road fuel duty freeze will be welcome news for motorists, holding it flat since 2010 has made it more difficult for rail freight to compete with road haulage.

‘Rail freight operators want to invest to help decarbonise supply chains, but the government must help create a more favourable environment for growth. There needs to be a level playing field between different modes of freight transport so that freight customers aren’t priced out of making the right decision for the environment by rising rail costs compared to road haulage.’  

On HS2 and investment in rail infrastructure, Rail Partners chief executive, Andy Bagnall, said:  

‘Rail Partners and its members welcome the rail investments announced in today’s budget including funding for tunnelling to London’s Euston station, which helps keep open options for HS2 in the North.

‘Filling the capacity gap left by the cancellation of the northern section of HS2 is still essential if we are to encourage more people to travel by by train and to unlock freight capacity to reduce congestion by moving goods off the roads and onto the railway.’