Rail fares in biggest rise in five years, with one Black Country ticket costing nearly £3,000
Commuters in the West Midlands have today been forced to see in the New Year with a hike in rail fares.
Rail fares have risen by an average of 3.6 per cent – the largest increase in five years.
The rises in the region are slightly lower but still represent significant increases at a time wage increases remain flat.
Protests have been staged at stations across the West Midlands on Tuesday at the rise.
The price of an annual season ticket between Shrewsbury and Birmingham, with trains stopping in the Black Country, will jump from today £2,200 to £2,276.
On Virgin Trains, people travelling each day between Telford and Birmingham and through the Black Country now pay £1,820 instead of £1,760 and a season ticket from Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton is now £2,048, up from £1,980.
Stephen Joseph, chief executive of the Campaign for Better Transport, accused the Government of choosing to 'snub rail passengers' by continuing to raise 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, especially as wages continue to stagnate.
"What’s good enough for motorists should be good enough for rail passengers.”
Meanwhile, the biggest percentage increase identified since 2010 was between Tame Bridge Parkway in Wednesbury and Nuneaton, where the cost of an annual season ticket will have risen by 50 per cent since 2010 – from £1,948 to £2,916.
The highest price increase was on a Virgin Trains season ticket between Birmingham and London Euston which will have risen by £2,539 since 2010 and now costs £10,567, analysis showed.
Nationally, commuters are paying almost £700 more a year for season tickets than when the Tories came to power.
The average traveller will be paying £2,888 for their season ticket, £694 a year more than in 2010, according to Labour’s analysis.
A Department for Transport spokesman said: “We are investing record amounts in delivering the biggest rail improvement plan since Victorian times to improve services for passengers – providing faster, better and more comfortable trains with extra seats.
“Passengers all over the UK will be travelling on brand new trains within the next 18 months.
“We have introduced new trains on routes across the country, upgrading trains on other routes, and removing the outdated Pacer trains from the North.”
