Regulated fares on National Rail in England and Wales have been increased by an average of 3.8 per cent today, and fares on Transport for London services by 4.8 per cent.

In December, rail minister Chris Heaton-Harris had said: 'Capping rail fares in line with inflation while tying it to the July RPI strikes a fair balance, ensuring we can continue to invest record amounts into a more modern, reliable railway, ease the burden on taxpayers and protect passengers from the highest RPI in years.' More recently, the new rail minister Wendy Morton had pointed out that the RPI +1 per cent formula had not been used this time.

But Labour has condemned today's rise on the grounds that average fares have risen almost twice as fast as wages since 2010, and that the total increase in fares since 2010 has been 48.9 per cent. Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said: 'This brutal Tory fare hike will be a nightmare for millions of passengers. Families are already facing the Conservatives’ tax-rises and surging bills, and will now be clobbered with yet another eye-watering rise in the cost of the commute. People up and down this country are paying the price for a crisis in living standards made in Downing Street.'

London Underground staff strike in jobs and pensions dispute

The RMT says 10,000 London Underground staff have walked out in the first of two 24-hour strikes this week, and is calling for the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to 'make good on his promises not to cut jobs and pensions'. Pickets are at 'key locations', the RMT added. The union's general secretary Mick Lynch said: 'Sadiq Khan should be standing up to Tory ministers who want to needlessly attack jobs, pensions and conditions of key transport workers. The Mayor knows the plan to attack our members’ pensions and conditions is wrong and would leave our union no choice but to take industrial action. However, only last week the Mayor agreed to submit proposals to the government that will result in detrimental changes to pensions. The Mayor has to decide if he is on the side of key workers who have kept London moving during the pandemic or Tory ministers hellbent on punishing tube workers.'

No trains are running most Underground lines today, although some services are running on the Central and District Lines. TfL had called yesterday on the RMT to cancel the strikes. Chief operating officer Andy Lord said: 'We haven't proposed any changes to pensions or terms and conditions, and nobody has or will lose their jobs because of the proposals we have set out, so this action is completely unnecessary. We know our customers deserve better than this and that is why we're urging the RMT to talk to us so we can find a resolution to this dispute and call off this action, which is threatening London's recovery from the pandemic.'

The RMT is set to stage a second strike on Thursday. Meanwhile, the government has extended funding support for TfL until June, and talks are continuing about the details of a long term settlement.