Rail travellers will have to wait until next year to find out the price of fares in 2023 after the government changed how the rise was calculated because of the soaring inflation rate.

For years, fare rises which came in on January 1 each year were linked to the Retail Price Index for the previous July – and recently had followed that rate exactly.

Figures released on Wednesday showed the RPI at 12.3% – which, under the previous formula, would have seen rail fares rise on average by that level on January 1. This would have seen an off-peak return from Ipswich to London go up by almost £6.

However, the Department for Transport, which sets regulated rail fares, announced this week that the next rail fare increases would come in at the start of March – as they have since the pandemic – and would be less than the rate of inflation.

There has been no announcement about when the March increases will be announced, but rail officials do not expect any announcement until the new year when the situation for rail companies may be clearer – and the current industrial disputes may have been resolved.