News updates
Read the latest updates from the world of pensions and see how they affect you as a member of the Scheme.
Read the latest news about the Scheme and your pension below.
You can also visit the blog for a deeper dive into a variety of pension topics.
For the 2020/21 tax year, your pension will increase by up to 1.7% if it is in payment or you are a preserved member. The increase will be effective from 6 April 2020.
Your railways pension is reviewed each year and increases according to orders published by the government. In recent years, the increases have been in line with the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) figure from the previous September.
So, for example, the increase for the 2020/21 tax year is based on the CPI figure from September 2019 (1.7%). This year’s order has now been laid before Parliament to confirm this.
Only those who took their railways pension benefits – or became a preserved pensioner – on or before 21 April 2019 will get the full 1.7%.
If you took your benefits – or became a preserved pensioner – on or after 22 April 2019, you won’t get the full amount because you’ve been retired – or preserved – for less than a year. Spouses’ pensions increase in the same way.
You can check the increase you’ll receive using the information in Table A.
Date you started claiming your railway pension (or your benefits became preserved) | % increase to your pension |
21 April 2019 or before | 1.7 |
22 April - 21 May 2019 | 1.6 |
22 May - 21 June 2019 | 1.4 |
22 June - 21 July 2019 | 1.3 |
22 July - 21 August 2019 | 1.1 |
22 August - 21 September 2019 | 1.0 |
22 September - 21 October 2019 | 0.9 |
22 October - 21 November 2019 | 0.7 |
23 November - 21 December 2019 | 0.6 |
22 December - 21 January 2020 | 0.4 |
22 January - 21 February 2020 | 0.3 |
22 February - 21 March 2020 | 0.1 |
On or after 22 March 2020 | 0 |
If your pension includes Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) a lower increase may apply to part of your pension. GMP would have been built up during any service between 1978 and 1997 and increases will apply at a lower rate to the GMP element of the pension after age 60 for women and after age 65 for men.
Details of your individual increase (which includes details of the amount of GMP included in your pension) will be sent to you in the post shortly before the April pension instalment is paid.
The State Pension is also due to rise in the new financial year. The increase occurs to keep up with the rise of the cost of living each year. Pensioners on the full Basic State Pension will receive an extra £5.05 per week, equating to a total of £134.25.
Those retirees who are entitled to the full new State Pension (not everyone is) can look forward to an extra £6.58 per week, rising from £168.60 per week to a new total of £175.20 from April 2020.
If you have any questions about your State Pension increase, you can contact DWP Pension Service claim line on 0800 731 7898 (textphone: 0800 731 7339). Phone lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm (except public holidays).
If you have questions about your GMP, or the increase on it, you should contact your local pension centre. You can find details at www.gov.uk/find-pension-centre.
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