Furious protesters have accused train companies of forcing passengers to "pay through the nose" as they were hit by a New Year price hike.

Around 40 pickets sprung up from Brighton to Berwick-upon-Tweed, as well as in London's King's Cross station, to slam the rise on the first working day of 2018.

Passengers catching a train on Tuesday were hit with an average ticket price rise of 3.4%, with some commuter routes set for price hikes of more than £100.

The jump means some commuters are now spending up to five times as much of their salary on season tickets as people on the continent.

:: Top five average increases by operator:


4.7% - Northern.

4.6% - TransPennine Express.

4.1% - CrossCountry.

3.6% - Merseyrail.

3.4% - Virgin Trains East Coast, Greater Anglia, London Overground and TfL Rail Travelcards and price caps.

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Image: Commuters in London face an average season ticket price hike of almost £150

Season tickets into London from Theresa May's Maidenhead constituency are to rise by £104 to £3,092 and one from Liverpool to Manchester is going up by £108 to £3,152, with the average cost to increase by a third faster than wages this year.

Last year the average price hike was 2.3%, with season tickets into London terminals going up by £74, compared to £146 this year.

Raja Amin, an organiser for the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union in the Midlands, told Sky News: "People are paying through the nose - 3.4% is the biggest increase in the last five years. It's really unfair for those people.

Image: Mr Amin said fares should be cut, not staff

"And while the fares are going up, they are cutting staff. Our campaign is that this doesn't make sense at all."

Bruce Williamson, of campaign group Railfuture, also said: "It's no wonder that poor value for money is the number one concern of rail travellers, with British rail fares amongst the most expensive in Europe.

"Fares are rising faster than most people's wages so they are taking a larger slice of their income. People are being priced out of going to work."

:: How much will your rail fare go up by?

Image: The cost of travelling on Britain's railways has been described as 'a national scandal'

A Department for Transport spokesman justified the increase to prices by pointing towards the Government's investment in several ambitious rail projects, including Crossrail.

"We are investing in the biggest modernisation of our railways since the Victorian times to improve services for passengers - providing faster and better, more comfortable trains with extra seats," he told Sky News.

"This includes the first trains running though London on the Crossrail project, an entirely new Thameslink rail service and continuing work on the transformative Great North Rail Project.

"We keep fare prices under constant review and the price rises for this year are capped in line with inflation, with 97p out of every £1 paid going back into the railway."

Later in the day, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling told LBC on a trip to Qatar that the fare rise is "higher than I would wish".

He said: "Can I promise there will be no fare rises in future? No I can't - I wish I could."

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Image: The Government says it is committed to major rail upgrades up and down the country

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan - who has pledged to freeze all bus and tram fares and single pay-as-you-go fares on the Tube until 2020 - described the fare hikes for those heading into the capital as "eye-watering".

"It's time for the Government and private rail companies to step up and give the passengers the service they deserve at a price they deserve," he added.

Mr Khan's sentiments were shared by RMT general secretary Mick Cash, who has echoed Labour's call for the railways to be nationalised.

Image: Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has criticised the 'eye-watering' price hikes

In a bid to soften the blow of the fare increases, some rail operators have come up with money-saving schemes, such as The Key introduced by Southeastern and the Smart Ticket by Abellio, which runs the Greater Anglia network.

But Bridget Fox, from the Campaign for Better Transport, says there needs to much broader innovation and a freeze on ticket prices in the short-term.

She told Sky News: "The number of people taking season tickets is falling because they are becoming unaffordable and they don't reflect the way that people work - part-time or flexibly.

"We'd like to see a fares' freeze to get things back in balance, like how motorists are enjoying a fuel duty freeze. We do need to invest in the railway but tickets need to be priced in a way that's fair."

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Image: London Waterloo - the country's busiest rail station

The backlash comes as the Government faces increased scrutiny over the ownership of Britain's rail operators, with a recent investigation finding that 57% of passenger journeys in the 12 months to September were on foreign-owned services - mainly German and Dutch.

Passengers can also expect further misery later this month, with more RMT strikes expected over the long-running dispute over the role of guards on trains.