UK: Where does your rail fare go?

Jeremy Corbyn and Labour have pledged to cut rail fare costs in England by a third and make train travel for the under 16s free, with the announcement coming a day after train operators announced an average 2.7 percent price increase from January 2020. The proposed price cuts are part of Labour's long-term plans to renationalise the rail system and are intended “to tackle the crisis of unaffordability on the railways”.

The plan is sure to catch the eye of commuters across the country, growing ever-more frustrated with increased costs and perceived poor service. As figures from National Rail show though, under the present structure there doesn't appear to be too much left to be squeezed out of ticket prices. Currently, 90 percent of the money raised via ticket sales goes back into the running of the railways. The remaining ten percent is accounted for by payments to the government (8 percent) and a two percent slice going directly into train operators' pockets.