A POTENTIAL 5.5 per cent rise in England’s train fares next year has been branded outrageous by campaigners.

The July retail prices index, which usually determines fare increases, will be published on Wednesday.

And while the government has not confirmed how it will calculate the 2026 rise, this year’s 4.6 per cent hike was set one percentage point above July 2024’s RPI.

Banking group Investec has forecast this year’s July RPI figure will be 4.5 per cent, suggesting fares could rise by 5.5 per cent.

Bruce Williamson, spokesman for pressure group Railfuture, told the PA news agency “it would be outrageous” if fares rose by that much.

He said: “What would be the justification for jacking up fares above inflation? There isn’t any. It’s ripping off the customer, driving people off the trains and onto our congested road network, which is in no-one’s interest.”

Mr Williamson said he would support the government marking its nationalisation of train operators by freezing fares.

“One would hope that there would be some efficiency savings and economies of scale that you get from having a more integrated railway,” he said. “But of course, I strongly suspect that if there are any savings to be had, they’d be swallowed up by the Treasury and not passed back to the passengers, which I think is wrong.”

Lobby group Campaign for Better Transport’s chief executive Ben Plowden said: “Rising fares are not just burdening passengers, they are putting people off rail travel.

“Our survey found that 71 per cent of people would be more likely to take the train if fares were cheaper.”

He said that while the government progresses nationalisation plans, “it must take the opportunity to reform fares and make rail travel more affordable.”

The Department for Transport said no decisions had yet been made on 2026 fares but insisted the aim was to “balance affordability for passengers and taxpayers.”