THAT’S NOT FARE

New train prices a rip-off compared to Europe

Terms & conditions: £10pp based on four people. Fewer than four can book, minimum cost £40. Online booking fee of £3.00 applies. Token/password collection. Service and optional entertainment charges may apply. Terms and conditions apply. See website for details. RAIL commuters in Britain spend up to five times as much of their salary on season tickets as passengers on the continent, a study has revealed.

Fares will go up across the UK today by an average of 3.4 per cent – the biggest increase since 2013.

ScotRail are increasing prices by an average of 3.2 per cent. On Virgin West Coast services, ticket costs will rise by 3.3 per cent while on the company East Coast trains, fares will go up by 3.4 per cent.

A TUC survey found that the average worker in Britain will have to pay about 13 per cent of their salary for a monthly season ticket for a 30-mile commute.

That compares with two per cent for a comparable commute in France, three per cent in Italy, four per cent in Germany and five per cent in Spain and Belgium.

Season tickets will increase a third faster than wages this year, the TUC’s general secretary Frances O’Grady predicted.

She added: “Many commuters will look with envy to the continent. The Government need to take our railways back into public hands. That will stop hundreds of millions being siphoned off by rail firms and allow us to put passengers first.”