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Hundreds of thousands of rail commuters face being hit with a “Brexit fare hike” of nearly four per cent, The Standard reveals today.

The increase will be the biggest for five years and nearly four times the pay rise of millions of workers.

It will be a further blow to commuters in London, and other parts of the country, already suffering from the worsening squeeze on living standards unleashed by the Brexit vote.

Regulated fares, which include season and other commuter tickets, are set to go up next January in line with the rate of RPI inflation this month.

Economists are predicting RPI will be between 3.6 per cent and 3.9 per cent in July.

This is far higher than salary rises for millions of public sector employees, capped at one per cent, and also some workers in the private sector getting small wage rises or pay freezes.

A 3.9 per cent fare hike would be nearly double average pay rises in the country, according to latest figures, and would be felt hard by commuters, including from some of the Cabinet’s most senior figures.

For London workers living in Theresa May’s Maidenhead constituency, a season ticket will rise by £116.50 from £2,988 to £3,104.50.

Passengers from First Secretary of State Damian Green’s seat of Ashford, Kent, will be hit by a £242.90 hike from £6,228 to £6,470.90 if they use the high speed service to St Pancras.

London employees making the daily journey from Home Secretary Amber Rudd’s constituency of Hastings in Sussex will need to find an extra £182 for next year’s season ticket, which will go up from £4,668 to £4,850.

For constituents of stockbroker belt MP and Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, the rise will be £76.90 from £1972 to £2048.90 if they use Epsom station.

The spike in inflation that will trigger next year’s rise has been largely blamed on the fall in Sterling’s value after last June’s referendum on quitting the EU.

Your say: no value for money Valery Montagnon, 40, a tax advisor who works in Soho, pays more than £5,100 for an annual pass from Reading She said: “At the moment because I’m pregnant it’s not too bad but I never get a seat otherwise. The trains are never on time and I don’t feel there’s value for money. “I’m 10 to 15 minutes late because of the trains on a regular basis, but we’ve had some severe delays when it’s been an hour late and I can’t work from home.” John Kiani, 33, a manager from Reading pays £140 for a weekly travel ticket to Victoria. He said: “The amount we pay is already too much. Most of my journey I’m standing the whole way. It’s a joke. First class should be made more affordable, at the moment it’s always empty and everyone is crammed standing in the other carriages.” Chris Eves, 26, a technical account manager from Reading pays £410 for a monthly ticket to Charing Cross. He said: “I’m expecting to pay the price of Brexit, I voted to leave. It’s part and parcel of life, as long as they improve the service along the way. “The big problem is the delays. After doing an 11 hour shift finding your train is delayed is beyond irritating.” Alaister Dennis, 33, from Maidenhead, pays over £410 for a monthly season ticket to Charing Cross. He said: “The fare rise is well above the standard of living increase. We need more money in our pocket. I didn’t vote to leave the EU but you just have to go along with all the impacts of leaving. I leave for work at 6.30am and go home at 7pm or 8pm purely to avoid the crowds on the train. You’re packed in like sardines otherwise.” Robert Moss, 20, an economics intern, pays £450 a month to travel from Rainham in Kent to Victoria He said: “A month’s rent used to cost me £350, it’s more than that to travel at the moment. I’d like to move to London but it’s too expensive. This is affordable but I’m trying to save for my final year of university and it’s taking out a lot of what I’d be saving.” Daniel Moore, 45, a business consultant from South Manchester who travels to Victoria by Virgin Trains “It’s wrong for fares to go up unless the service is reliable. If fares go up I would expect the trains to be cleaner and to have better time keeping.” Julie Williams, 42, works in marketing and regularly travels to Paddington from her home in Bristol “The trains are ridiculously expensive. I usually travel from Bristol to London and it can cost £200 for a day return. It’s crazy. If you have several people travelling with you, you can’t justify it. “I have two children and I wouldn’t bother at all with that, I know it’s too expensive and would rather just drive.”

The last set of minutes from the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee described the currency depreciation as “the driving force” behind the surge in prices.

With sharp fare rises now looming, former Tory Cabinet minister Nicky Morgan said: “Those of us who voted to Remain have always been worried about Brexit having a negative impact on household budgets and this appears to confirm our fears.”

Sir Vince Cable, MP for Twickenham and frontrunner to become Liberal Democrat leader, added: “The one major consequence of the Brexit vote was a heavy devaluation which has fed inflation which in turn is leading to big increases in inflation-linked fares.

“Instead of the promised savings to spend on the NHS, people are now beginning to realise that the vote for Brexit was a vote to be poorer.”

Howard Archer, chief economic advisor to forecasters EY ITEM Club, believes inflation will hit 3.9 per cent this month.

He said: “Inflation will be peaking in the next few months. There’s still a little bit of Sterling weakness to pass through but oil prices have softened and Sterling is now stable.”

The scale of the ticket price hikes will pile more pressure on the Government to reform the fare-setting formula, based on RPI.

Labour proposed at the election to use CPI inflation, which is traditionally lower than RPI, but even CPI was 2.9 per cent in May.

Stephen Joseph, chief executive of lobby group Campaign for Better Transport, said: “The Government’s commitment to not raise regulated fares above inflation now looks pretty paltry, given that RPI could be almost four per cent.

“London already has some of the highest commuting fares in the world - but if there have to be fare rises they at least need to be pegged to CPI, the formula the government uses when it calculates how much money it gives us in pensions and benefits.”

Corporate affairs director Jonathan Sheppard, who makes the daily 360 mile round trip from Newark to London with his wife Julie, said: “Hard-pressed commuters are already paying high fees to get to work in the capital - £10,180 for a standard annual season ticket.

“A near four per cent rise for the both of us would cost an extra £800 a year at a time when wages aren’t rising, there is no interest rates on savings, and the money will have to be found from somewhere.”

The Department for Transport said it “carefully monitors” how rail fares and average earnings increase.

“We are investing more than £40billion into our railways to improve services for passengers – providing faster and better trains with more seats,” said a spokesman.

“This is all part of the biggest rail modernisation programme for more than a century.”

The DfT insisted that it “fairly balanced” the cost of the investment between the taxpayer and the passenger.

On average, 97 per cent of every £1 of a passenger’s fare goes back into the railway, it added.

A spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group, which brings together train operators and Network Rail to improve services, said: “Increases to season tickets are set by government but money from fares pays to run and improve the network, ensuring the country has the railway it needs to boost the economy nationally and support communities locally.”