Autumn
Budget
2024

The
chancellor
Rachel
Reeves
has
announced
that

road
fuel
duty
is
to
be
frozen
next
year,
and
the
5p
reduction
for
each
litre
introduced
by
the
last
government
will
continue.
However, regulated rail
fares will
rise
by
4.6
per
cent
on
2
March
2025,
one
percentage
point
above
RPI.

HS2 tunnelling
to
London
Euston
will
be
funded,
and
the

Transpennine
Route
Upgrade
is
to
go
ahead
in
full,
with
further
electrification
including
Church
Fenton
to
York
(Colton
Junctions).

East
West
Rail
is
confirmed
in
full
between
Oxford
and
Cambridge.

There
will
be
upgrades
to
stations
at

Bradford
Forster
Square
and

Manchester
Victoria,.as
well
as
funding
for

West
Midlands
Metro
to
Brierley
Hill
and
upgrades
for
trams
in

Sheffield.
Still
in
Yorkshire, Leeds
trams
are
also
going
ahead.

Subject
to
an
industry
proposal,
the
government
will
agree
a
£5
increase
in
the
price
of
most

rail
cards
(except
the
disabled
person’s rail
card).

Industry
reactions
have
started
to
come
in.

Rail
Partners
chief
executive
Andy
Bagnall
said: ‘Government
should
set
fares
at
a
level
that
will
ultimately
encourage
more
people
to
travel
by
train
in
the
future,
helping
to
secure
the
long-term
financial
sustainability
of
the
sector
and
capture
the
wider
economic
and
environmental
benefits
of
rail
for
the
nation
as
a
whole.
The
focus
must
be
on
growing
passenger
numbers,
not
making
current
passengers
pay
more.

‘While
today’s
road
fuel
duty
freeze
will
be
welcome
news
for
motorists,
holding
it
flat
since
2010
has
made
it
more
difficult
for
rail
freight
to
compete
with
road
haulage.

‘Rail
Partners
and
its
members
welcome
the
rail
investments
announced
in
today’s
budget
including
funding
for
tunnelling
to
Euston,
which
helps
keep
open
options
for
HS2
in
the
North.

‘Filling
the
capacity
gap
left
by
the
cancellation
of
the
northern
section
of
HS2
is
still
essential
if
we
are
to
encourage
more
people
to
travel
by
by
train
and
to
unlock
freight
capacity
to
reduce
congestion
by
moving
goods
off
the
roads
and
on
to
the
railway.’

National
Infrastructure
Commission
chair
Sir
John
Armitt
said:
‘We
welcome
the
government’s
plan
to
invest
over
£35
billion
in
economic
infrastructure
in
2025-26.

‘Linking
Old
Oak
Common
and
Euston
is
fundamental
to
the
viability
of
HS2
so
we
welcome
funding
for
the
tunnel
connection,
which
should
help
secure
the
maximum
economic
benefit
from
the
investment
already
made
in
the
project.
The
question
of
how
to
boost
connectivity
and
capacity
beyond
Birmingham
remains
to
be
answered,
and
the
National
Infrastructure
Strategy
should
set
out
how
government
plans
to
address
this
long-term
challenge.’