Higher rail fares have come into effect, with passengers across Britain facing an average rise of 2.3%, prompting renewed outcry from campaigners.

The overall rise in prices will outstrip the increase in season tickets set by the government, leading unions to accuse private train companies of milking the system.

Labour party research shows that season tickets have gone up by an average of 27% since 2010, while the TUC found that rail fares had risen at more than twice the rate of inflation and wages over the last decade.

According to Labour, some commuters will now payover £2,000 more to travel to work than when the Conservatives came to power in 2010. A comparison of costs on nearly 200 routes shows that the average commuter is now paying £2,788 for their season ticket, £594 more than in 2010.

The shadow transport secretary, Andy McDonald, said: “Passengers have faced truly staggering fare rises of over £2,000 since 2010. Fares have risen more than three times faster than wages, and passengers on some routes have also been hit by stealth fare rises of up to 162%.”

A Virgin Trains season ticket between Birmingham and London now costs £10,200, up £2,172 since 2010, while commuters travelling from Brighton to London on the troubled Southern Rail route now pay almost £1,000 more than in 2010, Labour’s research found.

“Passengers were always told that higher fares were necessary to fund investment, but vital projects have been delayed by years and essential maintenance works have been put on hold,” McDonald said. A less fragmented railway, under public ownership, would have lower costs, he added.

The transport secretary, Chris Grayling, took a different view. He said: “We are delivering the biggest rail modernisation programme for more than a century, providing more seats and services. We have always fairly balanced the cost of this investment between the taxpayer and the passenger.”

The Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators and Network Rail, said around 97p in every pound paid by passengers goes back into running and improving services. Its chief executive, Paul Plummer, said: “Nobody wants to pay more to travel to work and at the moment in some places people aren’t getting the service they are paying for.”

This year the rise in overall fares, which is set by train companies, outstrip the rise in season tickets and other regulated fares. Fares on Virgin Trains East Coast have risen by 4.9% overall, with the company pushing up the price of some off-peak singles by 7% and the price of a ticket London to Edinburgh up to £137.20.

Regulated fares have increased by 1.9% in line with July’s retail price index inflation figure, which is three times higher than the consumer price index (CPI) figure that the government more commonly employs.

The Campaign for Better Transport called on the government to use CPI inflation figures to determine fare rises. It also demanded a cap on increases on walk-on fares, and season tickets targeted to equally benefit part-time workers.

Lianna Etkind, a spokeswoman for the campaign, said: “With the average cost of an annual season ticket into London now more than £4,000, many people can simply no longer afford to get to work. It’s clear to us, and to millions of passengers up and down the country, that the whole fares and ticketing system needs overhauling.”

The TUC’s research shows that rail fares have increased by 56% since 2006, more than double the rise of 24% rise in average earnings and 26% in inflation over the decade.



Action for Rail, a campaign by rail unions and the TUC, says the UK’s privatised rail service has increased costs for commuters. It plans protests at more than 100 stations around Britain on Tuesday, when the majority of commuters will return to work after the new year holiday.

The TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady, said: “British commuters are forced to shell out far more on rail fares than others in Europe. Many will look with envy at the cheaper, publicly-owned services on the continent.

“Private train companies are milking the system, and the government is letting them get away with it.”

A survey for the campaign group We Own It found that around half of respondents believed fares would fall under public ownership. According to polling by Survation, 48% of people believed train travel would be cheaper in a renationalised railway, and 58% said privatisation had been a failure.

Cat Hobbs, the director of We Own It, said: “We need an integrated, efficient railway that is accountable to all of us. Profits should be invested for the benefit of passengers, not shareholders.”

The rail fare increases come as strikes continue to affect passengers on Southern rail. Services were disrupted and some lines closed by a three-day strike by conductors from the RMT union in a long-running row over reforms to their jobs and duties. The latest strike started on 31 December and concludes on Monday. Southern said a “team of contingency conductors” was keeping key routes open.

The most extreme disruption yet in the Southern dispute looms next week, when a a six-day walkout by drivers from 9 January is expected to bring the network to a complete standstill.