Row as London commuters face UK's biggest train fare rises

Rail passengers reacted with fury today after it was revealed that fares in London and the South-East will rise more than anywhere else.

Transport chiefs said the average rise across Britain will be 3.9 per cent from 2 January. But commuters travelling into the capital face an increase of up to six per cent.

One of the highest fares in the southeast is 8.3 per cent which is an “anytime” return Bromley to Victoria which goes from £9.60 to £10.40.

An annual season ticket from Canterbury is up 5.9 per cent to £4,860; from Tonbridge up 5.2 per cent to £3,796; Guildford up 4.3 per cent to £3,224; Reading up 4.2 per cent to £3,960; Gillingham up 4.2 per cent to £3,672; and Oxford up 4.2 per cent to £4,532.

An off-peak return from Paddington to Plymouth (First Great Western) goes up 8.3 per cent from £103 to £111.50; the same ticket from Marylebone to Birmingham (Chiltern) goes up 10 per cent from £25 to £27.50. An anytime (peak) return from Liverpool Street to Norwich (Greater Anglia) rises 9.2 per cent from £98.60 to £107.70.

Commuters at Waterloo station today condemned the rises. Roy Abe, 59, from Mile End, said: “It is ridiculous when inflation is just three per cent.”

Stonemason Sam Scott, 31, of Sidcup, said: “On the trains to Brighton the fares are going up by £200 to £300 a year. That is a hell of a lot of money. People are right to think it is unfair.”

The figures were released by independent watchdog Passenger Focus.

Peak-time fares are regulated but others are not. Train companies can “juggle” peak fare prices by up to five per cent — loading more on some routes providing prices are lower on others.

Michael Roberts, chief executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies, said: “Train companies will continue working with the rest of the industry to become more cost efficient, helping to take the pressure off future fare rises.”