Commuters travelling from Milton Keynes to London could save more than £300 per year as rail fares frozen
Commuters travelling from Milton Keynes into London could save more than £300 a year after the Government announced it was freezing rail fares for the first time in 30 years.
The move, which will be officially confirmed during The Budget on Wednesday November 26, is set to save commuters hundreds of pounds off their season tickets.
Examples of the savings commuters are expected to make, as given by the Department for Transport, include that a typical commuter travelling to work three days a week from Milton Keynes to London, using a flexi-season ticket, will save £315 per year.
The freeze on fares will apply to all regulated fares, including season tickets, peak returns for commuters and off-peak returns between major cities.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “We all want to see cheaper rail travel, so we’re freezing fares to help millions of passengers save money.
“Commuters on more expensive routes will save more than £300 per year, meaning they keep more of their hard-earned cash.
“This is part of our wider plans to rebuild Great British Railways the public can be proud of and rely on.”
Great British Railways is set to be a new publicly-owned company, and under the Railways Bill will be responsible for running and managing the tracks and trains used each day.
The city’s MPs welcomed the announcement of the rail fares freeze with MP for Milton Keynes Central Emily Darlington saying: “Thousands of commuters pass through Milton Keynes Central every day, with workers heading out to make use of our close proximity to major cities like London and Birmingham, or coming into Milton Keynes - the seventh largest city economy in the country.
“This will be welcome news to all of them after thirty years of rising costs, putting more money back in people's pockets.”
Milton Keynes North MP Chris Curtis added: “We know that the price of train tickets is a real concern after thirty years of costs going up and up.
“This is a very welcome change now, while our plans for Great British Rail will put our railways back in public hands and fix systemic issues in the long term.”