Rail commuters are set to see the cost of their season tickets rise by 1% next January following the publication of today’s inflation figures – the lowest increase for many years.

The increase is set at July’s Retail Price Increase figure – and today it was announced that it was 1%.

The Consumer Price Index, which does not include the cost of housing, was lower at just 0.1%, up from zero in June.

The government pledged in its election manifesto that rail fares for regulated fares – season tickets and most walk-up tickets – would not be allowed to rise by more than the rate of inflation over the next five years.

The fare increases are expected to take effect on January 3 next year – the first Sunday of 2016.

The confirmation of the fare increases is expected in the autumn with the exact figures being published in December.

However a 1% increase would see the cost of an annual season ticket from Ipswich to London increase by £71 from £7,092 to £7,163. A similar ticket from Colchester would increase by £59 from £5,880 to £5,939.

It will be the lowest rise since 2010, when fares actually decreased by 0.4%.

David Sidebottom, director of transport user watchdog Transport Focus, said: “Fares are set to increase again, but passengers will be relieved to see that fare rises in England are being capped at inflation.

“They will be pleased to see that there is no flexibility for individual fares to go up by more than this. Both of these are things we have pushed for.

“While fares are going up, for many people punctuality is going down. The poor performance in the South East in particular highlights how Network Rail and operators need to deliver a more consistent day-to-day service which passengers can rely on.”

In 2010 rail fares decreased by 0.4% after the previous July’s rate of RPI inflation was minus 1.4%, because fare rises were based on RPI plus 1%. Since 2014 fare rises have matched RPI.