It’s that time again – many rail fares in the UK will increase on Sunday 2 March 2025. The price hike applies to train tickets, railcards and even tube fares in London.
So, here’s what’s happening, how much it’s going to cost you and how to beat the rail fare increases before they take effect.
Coming up in this article
The 2025 Train Fare Increases
What prices are going up in 2025?
The UK Government has announced that rail fares will rise by 4.6% in 2025, and that the cost of most railcards will rise by £5. The prices of London rail and tube fares will also go up.
Which countries are impacted by the rail fare increases?
Many rail tickets and most railcards in England, Wales and Scotland are going up from 2 March. This is because prices for lots of tickets are set by the UK Government, and they’ve announced they’re going to increase fares.
Why are prices going up for train tickets and railcards?
The price of rail tickets usually goes up each year, so this is an expected price rise. The amount they increase by is set by the UK Government in England and Wales, and by the National Transport Agency in Scotland.
The amount by which the prices of rail tickets go up takes into account things like inflation and the rate at which the cost of goods and services rises over time.
What Are The 2025 Train Fare Increases?
England
Regulated rail fares in England are going up by 4.6% on Sunday 2 March 2025.
This hike is more than the current rate of inflation, which has actually only happened one other time in the past twenty years, That was in 2021, and was due to the impact of fewer passengers on the rail network because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Wales
Transport for Wales has agreed to the overall increase of 4.6% on 2 March, but are applying different increases to different ticket types.
- Anytime day single fares are going up by 3%
- Anytime day return and off peak return fares are going up by 6%
Scotland
ScotRail services – the ones that are publicly run in Scotland – are going up by 3.8% on Tuesday 1 April 2025.
This hike is less than the previous year’s, which was a punchy 8.7%.
Northern Ireland
Translink has not announced any increase in fare prices for 2025.
What are regulated rail fares?
Since it’s regulated fares that impacted here, we should probably know what they are!
Regulated rail fares
Regulated rail fares make up almost half of all rail fares in England and are set by the Government.
Regulated fares are the ‘standard’ fares and include:
- Saver returns
- Standard returns
- Off-peak fares between major cities
- Season tickets for most journeys
In London, the Mayor oversees the TfL fares on trains, tubes, buses and trams.
Unregulated rail fares
The other type of fare is an unregulated fare, which is set by a train company rather than the Government.
Unregulated fares include:
- First class tickets
- Advance tickets
- Saver tickets
Train operators set these fares, although they can sometimes be capped in certain cases.
So, the price of these fares isn’t changing as part of this Government-set increase, but it’s possible that train companies could change these prices in the course of 2025.
Are season ticket prices also increasing?
England
Season tickets in England are going up by 4.6% on 2 March.
Wales
7-day season tickets in Wales are going up by 3.5% on 2 March.
Scotland
What Are The 2025 Railcard Increases?
The cost of most railcards is going up by £5 on Sunday 2 March.
This is a rise of almost 17%, and it’s a pretty big change – the price of railcards has stayed the same for over 10 years.
Standard railcards like Two Together, Senior, 16-25 and 26-30 railcards will now cost £35, up from £30.
If you have a three-year railcard, then you’re looking at a hike of £10. They’ll now cost £80 instead of £70.
The cost of a Disabled Persons railcard will stay the same.
What Are The 2025 London Rail and Tube Fare Increases?
Tube and rail fares in London are rising by 4.6%.
This includes peak and off-peak fares, travelcards and the daily and weekly price caps.
Tram and bus fares are not changing. They are being frozen at the current prices, which have stayed the same for the past 2 years.
To give you an idea of what a 4.6% looks like when you’re buying a ticket, we’ve popped some example fares below for travel between zones 1 & 2:
Ticket | Fare from 2 Mar 2025 |
|---|---|
Adult peak pay as you go | £3.50 (was £3.40) |
Adult off-peak pay as you go | £2.90 (was £2.80) |
Pay as you go cap – 1 day anytime | £8.90 (was £8.50) |
Pay as you go cap – 1 day off-peak | £8.90 (was £8.50) |
Pay as you go cap – Mon-Sun | £44.70 (was £42.70) |
One day travelcard | £16.60 (was £15.90) |
7 day travelcard | £44.70 (was £42.70) |
Source: london.gov.uk
How Can I Beat The 2025 Train, Railcard and Tube Fare Increases?
Train tickets
As always, the earlier you book train tickets the better, as you can take advantage of more ticket types and offers.
For example, you can book 2 Advance Single fares – the price of these is set by the train operator and so not subject to these rail fare increases – instead of a standard return fare, which is a regulated fare that’s going up.
Book tickets either directly with the train operater via the national websites:
England: National Rail
Wales: Transport for Wales
Scotland: ScotRail
Or with trainpal or trainline, which both help you save more by showing you split tickets.
Season tickets
Railcards
If your railcard is due to expire soon, then it might be worth getting a replacement now.
The price of most railcards is going up by £5 – and three-year ones are going up by £10 – so if you don’t have much time left on your current railcard, it could be worth nabbing a new one now.
London rail and tube tickets
If you have a season ticket with TFL which expires soon, it could be cheaper to get a new one before 2 March 2025.
You’ll need to check exactly how much extra it would cost you get a new season ticket after 2 March. And then see if it’s worth sacrificing the remaining days on your existing season ticket for that saving.
Be Prepared For the 2025 Train, Railcard and Tube Fare Increase
