Rail minister Claire Perry has been accused of being a 'hypocrite' after it emerged she travels to Parliament by car - despite praising Britain's 'comfortable' rail services and 'fair' prices.

Miss Perry travelled from her Wiltshire constituency to London 68 times last year - driving on all but two occasions. In total, the Tory rising star claimed back £2,689 in expenses for almost 6,000 miles in the car.

Even if Miss Perry takes the train from her constituency of Devizes, Wiltshire, she is able to claim back the cost of a standard class ticket from her nearest station of Pewsey into London.

Claire Perry celebrates being promoted to junior transport minister after leaving Downing Street in David Cameron's reshuffle last month

Out of the two commutes she made on the train last year, one was in first class - for which she claimed £91 back in expenses, the Sun newspaper reported today.

Earlier this week, Miss Perry sparked fury by insisting rail passengers pay 'fair fares for comfortable commuting'.

Yesterday it was revealed that next year’s increase is likely to be 3.5 per cent and some prices could rise by as much as 5.5 per cent. Fares have already increased by nearly 25 per cent since David Cameron came to power in May 2010.

The worst-hit commuters will have to oay up to £200 extra for season tickets from January.

But Miss Perry said: ‘What we have got to do is to make sure rail passengers – who could be forgiven for saying: ‘What on earth am I getting for these rises that I’ve seen over the last decade?’ – start to realise they are paying fair fares for comfortable commuting.’

General secretary of the TSSA rail union Manuel Cortes said: ‘Not only is Claire Perry guilty of insulting millions of rail passengers, she’s now found to be a hypocrite.’

A spokesman for Ms Perry said last night: ‘Claire often drives from her constituency due to personal circumstances. However, she regularly uses the train and completely understands that people’s journeys can too often not be good enough.’

And Ms Perry yesterday insisted on Twitter that she meant fares ‘should be’ fair.

Commuters wait to squeeze on to the next train to Victoria Station at Clapham Junction, south London

Miss Perry's comments were met with scorn by commuters yesterday.

Phil Guichard, 47, a marketing director, said: ‘I would like to see the minister on the 07.45 to Paddington.

‘It’s not comfortable at all. At peak times I’m lucky to get a seat.’

Julie Ward, 47, a nurse from near Maidenhead, said her experience was ‘horrendous’, but still costs £240 a month.

She said: ‘I find it unbelievable that they can charge so much and give such awful service.

‘I’ve actually thought about videoing it and sending it to the minister so she can see what it’s really like. I don’t think she’d call it comfortable then.’ Another commuter, Iain Irvine, 51, said the transport minister needed ‘a reality check’ if she thought the railways offered good value for money.

The company secretary, who gets a 5am train to keep down the £400 a month cost of his commute from Bristol to Paddington, said: ‘The only reason I use the trains is because I have no choice. If they want us to pay more they need to improve the services.

‘It’s just not good enough. If the minister thinks they represent value for money she needs a bit of a reality check.’

Rail fares will soar by up to 5.5% in January - and by an average of 3.5% - following this morning's announcement that RPI inflation was 2.5% in July

The annual increase in train fares is linked to July’s inflation figure, published this week by the Office for National Statistics, plus one percentage point.

With the retail prices index at 2.5 per cent last month, this means rail fares will typically rise by 3.5 per cent in January 2015, although some increases could be even bigger.

The Chancellor George Osborne could soften the blow, and he is likely to face growing pressure in the coming months to allow an increase of RPI but no more. But in a BBC interview yesterday, Miss Perry dismissed claims that train fares are cripplingly expensive.

Shadow transport secretary Mary Creagh said rail prices would rise by 24 per cent by 2018

When asked whether it was fair that a London to Manchester ticket can cost £160, she said this was ‘only if you don’t book in advance’.

In fact, the popular Trainline website yesterday showed a day return ticket before 9am to Manchester Piccadilly costs £164 to travel today.

If booked a fortnight in advance, it is only £23 cheaper to travel at the same times.

Questioned on Radio 4’s Today programme Miss Perry insisted: ‘People don’t just rock up to the station, like probably you and I do, and pay the maximum amount.’

The proposed increases are particularly painful because workers have faced six years of pay freezes, minimal rises or even cuts in wages.

For example, the cost of a season ticket to London for commuters from Brighton is expected to jump by around £150 a year to around £4,455, according to the Campaign for Better Transport.

This is the pressure group’s estimate of what the cost will be – although the rail operating companies have not yet published next year’s fares.

Martin Abrams of the Campaign for Better Transport said: ‘If your ticket price is rising four times faster than your salary, or you’re a part-time worker with no choice but to pay for a full-time fare, or you’re stuck with creaking 30-year old diesel trains, or even if you’d just like a seat in return for your £5,000 season ticket, then your fare will seem anything but fair and comfortable.’

Mary Creagh, Labour’s transport spokesman, said: ‘This is shocking complacency from yet another out-of-touch Tory. Many passengers facing inflation-busting fare rises don’t even get a seat on their train to work, let alone “comfortable commuting”.

‘When you go through that every single day, the experience is not a good one.’