Hike in rail fares of nearly six per cent met with furious backlash

The Department for Transport has set a cap of 5.9 per cent for increases to fares regulated by the Government, such as season tickets on most commuter journeys, some off-peak return tickets on long distance journeys and flexible tickets for travel around major cities.

It said this is 6.4 percentage points lower than the inflation figure fare rises are historically based on.

But MPs in the region say the rise will place another burden on people who are already struggling with cost of living pressures, and stressed that rail services also needed improving.

Wolverhampton South East Labour MP Pat McFadden said: "This announcement just adds to the cost of living pressures that people are facing.

"Energy bills have rocketed, food bills have gone up sharply – now we have a rise in rail fares on top of that.

"The key thing is to get the rail service operating properly again."

John Spellar, Labour MP for Warley, said: "The Government is adding insult to injury.

"They are loading even more expense onto customers. They have completely lost the plot."

Marco Longhi, Dudley North's Conservative MP, said it was 'disappointing'.

He added: "It's the whole agenda of encouraging people to move around in a post-Covid environment and get back to work.

"Enabling a return to work means enabling a transport system people want to use.

"Increasing fares even further on services that have become less reliable sends the wrong message.

"It's not a good look because it goes against the message of let's get back to work post-Covid and growing the economy."

Train operators set unregulated fares, although their decisions are heavily influenced by the Government due to contracts introduced because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said it was the biggest-ever Government intervention in rail fares.

“I’m capping the rise well below inflation to help reduce the impact on passengers," he added.

“It has been a difficult year and the impact of inflation is being felt across the UK economy. We do not want to add to the problem.

“This is a fair balance between the passengers who use our trains and the taxpayers who help pay for them.”

It comes as it was announced there will be major changes to a string of bus services across the Black Country from the start of next year amid some routes being axed by transport chiefs.