Commuters, already facing disruption from a raft of strikes, will be stung with a 5.9% increase in regulated rail fares from next March, the Department for Transport has announced.
The rise, which impacts rail users in England, is being capped at a level well below inflation, "to help reduce the impact on passengers", the transport secretary Mark Harper said.
Even so today's hike is the biggest since the 6.2% rise in 2012.
"This is a fair balance between the passengers who use our trains and the taxpayers who help pay for them," Harper said.
The increase is 6.4 percentage points below July’s retail prices index measure of inflation (which has previously been used to set the increases) and in line with average earnings growth that month.
The rise will come into force on March 5th, 2023.
Shares in FirstGroup PLC, which runs Avanti West Coast, Great Western Railway, South Western Railway and TransPennine Express, rose 1.8% while Trainline PLC was also higher, up 1.9%.