Data reveals UK commuters face potential £215 annual increase as train price cap lifts in 2024
Data reveals that UK commuters could be hit, on average, by an additional 55p per journey and £215 per year for rail fares from March 2024 when the government cap on train prices is lifted. This comes after reports that the government’s 5.9% interest cap on train travel is expected to be lifted to 8% in March 2024.
With this in mind, private pension provider, Penfold, has investigated the growing cost of commuting in the UK. By looking at the UK’s Top 15 Train Stations with the highest peak time footfall, they have been able to reveal which commuter routes are the most expensive in the UK – and which are expected to see the highest increases in March.
The Most Expensive City to Commute to
Data reveals that the most expensive city in the UK to commute to is London.
The average cost of of single ticket is £15.06, whilst the cost of a return is over £27.42. Annual costs on average are £7,131.80. If costs rise by 8% in 2024, London rail fares will increase by £1.10 for a single and £570.54 for an annual fare.
The next most expensive city to commute to is Cambridge at £9.03 for a single and £12.39 for an open return. This is followed by Bristol at £8.21 for a single and £10.98 for a return.
Leeds takes the place as the cheapest city to commute to with a single ticket costing £3.24 and £7.21 for an open return.
| NOW | 8% RISE in 2024 | |||||
| City | Cost single (Arriving by 8.30 am weekday) | Cost Return per day (Open Return) | Annual Cost Return per day (Open Return) | Rise Cost single (Arriving by 8.30 am weekday) | Cost Return per day (Open Return) | Annual Cost Return per day (Open Return) |
| London | £15.06 | £27.43 | £7,131.80 | £16.26 | £29.62 | £7,702.34 |
| Cambridge | £9.03 | £12.39 | £3,220.29 | £9.75 | £13.38 | £3,477.91 |
| Bristol | £8.21 | £10.98 | £2,854.80 | £8.87 | £11.86 | £3,083.18 |
| Birmingham | £7.92 | £10.64 | £2,767.56 | £8.56 | £11.50 | £2,988.96 |
| Edinburgh | £6.93 | £8.40 | £2,184.00 | £7.48 | £9.07 | £2,358.72 |
| Liverpool | £5.79 | £6.59 | £1,712.45 | £6.25 | £7.11 | £1,849.45 |
| Glasgow | £5.46 | £5.77 | £1,499.33 | £5.89 | £6.23 | £1,619.28 |
| Brighton | £5.40 | £10.08 | £2,619.50 | £5.83 | £10.88 | £2,829.06 |
| Nottingham | £5.18 | £5.73 | £1,488.50 | £5.59 | £6.18 | £1,607.58 |
| Manchester | £4.92 | £8.78 | £2,282.80 | £5.31 | £9.48 | £2,465.42 |
| Cardiff | £4.55 | £6.83 | £1,774.50 | £4.91 | £7.37 | £1,916.46 |
| Newcastle | £3.73 | £7.45 | £1,937.00 | £4.02 | £8.05 | £2,091.96 |
| Leeds | £3.24 | £7.21 | £1,875.71 | £3.50 | £7.79 | £2,025.77 |
Most Expensive Commuter Lines
As the most expensive region, it’s understandable the most expensive commuter lines are to London, with Reading being the most expensive at £29.20 for a single journey and £55.20 for an open return. This is followed by Twyford and High Wycombe. Eight out of ten of the most expensive routes are into London.
Interestingly, Birmingham and Bristol are the only two commuter routes to feature in the top 10 outside of London. The journey from Stoke-on-Trent to Birmingham is the fourth most expensive route at £19.10 for a single journey and £28.90 for a return. Whilst Newport to Bristol is £11 for a single journey and £18.20 for a return.
| City | Commuter Town | Commuter Time (minutes) | Cost single (Arriving by 8.30 am weekday) | Cost Return per day (Open Return) | Annual Cost Return per day (Open Return) |
| London | Reading, Berkshire | 28 | £29.20 | £55.20 | £14,352.00 |
| London | Twyford, Berkshire | 24 | £17.40 | £33.00 | £8,580.00 |
| London | High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire | 46 | £16.50 | £32.80 | £8,528.00 |
| Birmingham | Stoke-on-Trent | 52 | £19.10 | £28.90 | £7,514.00 |
| London | Stevenage, Hertfordshire | 23 | £17.50 | £26.30 | £6,838.00 |
| London | St Albans, Hertfordshire | 21 | £14.50 | £24.80 | £6,448.00 |
| London | Horley, Surrey | 55 | £13.20 | £24.50 | £6,370.00 |
| London | Redhill, Surrey | 39 | £12.80 | £24.50 | £6,370.00 |
| London | Hatfield, Hertfordshire | 23 | £12.10 | £20.30 | £5,278.00 |
| Bristol | Newport | 36 | £11.00 | £18.20 | £4,732.00 |
Least Expensive Commuter Lines
The least expensive commuter lines are Bishopbriggs to Glasgow, costing only £2.70 for both a single or a return. This is followed by Beeston to Nottingham and Giffnock to Glasgow. All ten of the cheapest commuter lines are found in the North of England and Scotland.
| City | Commuter Town | Commuter Time (minutes) | Cost single (Arriving by 8.30 am weekday) | Cost Return per day (Open Return) | Annual Cost Return per day (Open Return) |
| Glasgow | Bishopbriggs | 7 | £2.70 | £2.70 | £702.00 |
| Nottingham | Beeston | 7 | £2.80 | £3.30 | £858.00 |
| Glasgow | Giffnock | 16 | £3.70 | £3.70 | £962.00 |
| Leeds | Morley | 12 | £2.70 | £3.80 | £988.00 |
| Glasgow | Lenzie | 13 | £4.00 | £4.10 | £1,066.00 |
| Liverpool | Aigburth | 9 | £4.00 | £4.20 | £1,092.00 |
| Nottingham | Hucknall | 15 | £3.20 | £4.20 | £1,092.00 |
| Glasgow | Milngavie | 23 | £4.10 | £4.40 | £1,144.00 |
| Glasgow | Paisley | 12 | £4.20 | £4.50 | £1,170.00 |
| Liverpool | Waterloo | 21 | £4.40 | £4.60 | £1,196.00 |
Pete Hykin at Penfold comments, “The increasing cost of living continues to bite across all aspects of our day-to-day lives. As you can see from the data, commuting costs across the UK are reaching exuberant levels and will only continue to rise as the government cap lifts in March 2024. If these costs do rise as predicted, in some areas, individuals will be spending almost 3 months’ worth of salary on train travel – money that could go into much-needed savings and securing their pension pot for the future. Whilst the gap between wage growth and inflation is narrowing, consumers are not expected to fully recover until at least late 2024. The government still need to be doing what it can to ensure that everyday costs are kept down and are at manageable levels.”
Methodology:
Sourcing data from the Office of Rail and Road we were able to collect the passenger rail usage data to deduce the UK’s most used commuter networks. From this, we used the Trainline’s journey planner to find the exact costs for a single journey arriving at a destination at 8:30 a.m. as well as a same-day open return journey to deduce the costs for a commuter on these routes. We collated this data to summarise the highest and lowest costs for a commuter in the UK. We then calculated the predicted rise in March 2024 in line with the 8% increase.