Rail travellers protest at biggest fare hikes since 2013

PROTESTS were held outside train stations in England and Wales yesterday as passengers were hit with the largest fare rise in five years.

Average ticket prices across Britain went up by 3.4% on Tuesday — the biggest increase since 2013.

Members of the Rail, Mari- time and Transport (RMT) union handed out chocolates to “sweeten the bitter pill” of the price increase.

Paul Plummer, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, said “nobody wants to see fares going up” but insisted the increase is necessary to improve the network.

He told the Press Association: “All we can do is make sure we invest to improve as fast as we possibly can.

“We’ve had decades of under-investment, which we are now addressing, and have been consistently over the last few years, but it takes time.

“We need that money from fares to be able to afford that investment.”

Many season tickets have gone up by more than £100, including in Prime Minister Theresa May’s constituency of Maidenhead, where an annual pass to London rose by £104 to £3,092, Liverpool to Manchester (up £108 to £3,152), Neath to Cardiff (up £56 to £1,708).

Stephen Joseph, chief executive of the Campaign for Better Transport, accused the Government of choosing to “snub rail passengers” by continuing to increase fares while fuel duty is frozen for a seventh consecutive year. Mr Joseph said: “The extra money that season ticket-holders will have to fork out this year is almost as much as drivers will save.

“That doesn’t seem fair to us or the millions of people who commute by train every day, especially as wages continue to stagnate.

“What’s good enough for motorists should be good enough for rail passengers.”