Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of lowering rail fares on (a) the level of railway use and (b) social mobility.

We already have a number of measures in place which help passengers to save on rail fares. Most recently, we launched the Great British Rail Sale, the first ever nationwide rail sale. Over 1.3 million tickets were sold, offering around £7 million worth of savings for passengers.

Young and student travellers, disabled passengers and those over 60 are also offered discounted travel as a requirement of the Railways Act 1993 (Section 28(3)) as amended, because they are likely to be earning less than adults of typical working age. The Act requires that all train operating companies participate in certain approved discount card schemes. A number of railcards are available, offering discounts against most rail fares, which includes passengers from these groups.

Taxpayers provided significant financial support to keep trains running throughout the pandemic, with the Government having committed almost £16 billion since March 2020 to ensure vital services continued to run and key workers were able to keep using them. It is important now to put rail finances back on a sustainable footing in a way that is fair to passengers and taxpayers as we recover from the pandemic.

Any new rail fare discounts need to be carefully balanced for their potential impacts on passengers, taxpayers and the railway.