To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of increases in rail fares on trends in the level of passenger numbers.

The Department considers a range of factors when determining rail fare changes, including the impact on passenger demand. The Government intervened to cap regulated rail fares increases at 4.9%, 4.1 percentage points lower than the July RPI figure on which fare changes are usually based. This strikes a balance between offering lower fares to encourage passengers to use our rail network and supporting the rail industry while it gets back on good financial footing as it continues to deal with a revenue shortfall after the pandemic.