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Rail commuters are furious over a huge increase in car parking charges at stations in east London and Essex.

Commuter train operator c2c has pushed up daily parking rates and annual passes by an average of 6.5 per cent — nearly three times the rate of inflation.

This will add 40p a day and up to £71 a year to the cost of parking for commuters.

At Purfleet, Dagenham Dock and Rainham peak daily tickets went up 40p to £5.80 and annual tickets by £58 to £891; at Shoeburyness, Westcliff, Leigh-on-Sea and Stanford-le-Hope daily tickets rose 40p to £6.30 and annual tickets by £61 to £981; and at Upminster daily tickets rose 40p to £8.90 and annual tickets by £71 to £1,336. A spokesman for c2c, which is owned by the Italian state rail operator Trenitalia, said: “We believe c2c’s car park prices offer good value compared with local alternatives and the price of parking at other stations within Essex.

“The money from car park charges is funding our payments back to the Government, which we have increased to record levels and are now over £1 million more every week compared with five years ago.” Commuters using more than 150 train station around London have been hit by increases in car parking charges since the start of the year. Season tickets prices have also gone up, by 3.2 per cent.

The majority of the stations are run by Govia, a joint venture between the Go-Ahead Group and French-owned Keolis, which operates Southeastern, Thameslink and Southern franchises.

It put charges up by an average of 3.2 per cent — more than the Consumer Prices Index measure of inflation, which was 2.3 per cent last month.

Daily tickets at Haywards Heath in West Sussex rose 25p to £8.60 and those in Bedford went up 25p to £8.65.

A spokesman for Govia said: “This is only the second increase in 3.5 years and helps fund our multi-million-pound investment in ticket machines and payment systems, resurfacing and car park extensions, all designed to give customers a better service.”

A spokesman for Southeastern said: “Southeastern’s station car parks make journeys more convenient for passengers who choose to drive to our stations, and income from our car parks all goes towards providing better journeys for our passengers.

“All of our car parks where there are currently charges will see these charges increase by 3.2 per cent, and all of our car parks that are currently free of charge will remain free of charge.

“We’re freezing evening and Sunday car parking charges with the exception of weekend car parking charges at Ebbsfleet International, which is managed by High Speed 1, and not Southeastern.”

Three operators, South Western Railway, Chiltern Railways and Transport for London, said there would be no increase and a fourth, Greater Anglia, said it was still deciding how much to put up charges and at which stations.

Backlash: Price rises are ridiculous

Hayley West, 25, student at London South Bank: “With the rail prices too, it’s ridiculous. This is my fourth year of uni, I’ve still got another year. I swear every year I just seem to be paying more and more. It’s awful.”

Dean Dobson, 20, travels to his job in the fashion industry in Soho: “It’s kind of a monopoly and there’s nothing you can do. I wish that it wasn’t going up because London prices are already a joke as it is. No matter what happens, they could raise it to whatever and I’d still need to use it.”

Aislinn Geraghty, 35, insurance worker who travels into the City: “It’s crazy, it has gone up 40p since last year. It’s too much money. I’m pregnant so that’s the reason I have to drive at the moment. I have pelvic pain so I can’t walk and I have no choice but to pay it, so it’s awful.”

Nick Robson, 51, travels to Camden to work as a facilities manager: “I use it daily. There are not enough spaces available. It’s a money-making scheme. It costs me probably about £4,000 a year now including the parking and the annual ticket.”