Rail fares 'rise above inflation'

The average increase for all fares in the new year will be 3.9%. Fare rises are determined largely by government policy, and the Chancellor confirmed the Government's approach for next year in the Autumn Statement.

Railway funding can only come from the taxpayer or from the passenger, and the Government's policy remains that a bigger share must come from people who use the train.

We know nobody likes paying more for their journey, especially to go to work. Train companies will continue working with the rest of the industry to become more cost efficient.

RPI+1% is the same formula used by the previous Government for annual fare increases since 2004 - the only difference is we are now embarking on the biggest programme of rail investment since the 19th century.

By way of comparison, we are electrifying over 850 miles of track compared to just nine miles in 13 years of Labour.

Thanks to this Government, the new year promises to bring more misery to the country's commuters, as the network's private rail operators think nothing of hiking their fares.

Once again, millions of ordinary people are being punished by this Government's abject failure to get to grips with a crisis that is squeezing household budgets to breaking point.

Last week's family spending survey showed that transport is now, for the first time, the biggest item in families' weekly budgets.

This is hardly surprising when you consider how much rail fares have increased since the recession.

The Government seems determined to make a reality of Philip Hammond's statement that rail travel is now a rich man's toy.

With the West Coast fiasco still playing out, and with savage fare increases only a few weeks away, the campaign for renationalisation of Britain's railways is stepping up a gear.

We are fighting to reverse the reductions in jobs and investment and to end the rip-off of privatisation and halt the tidal wave of cuts in the pipeline under the Government's McNulty plans.

This year's fare hike is all the more painful following George Osborne's announcement of deeper cuts and austerity last week, and threatens to plunge many thousands of passengers yet further into transport poverty.

At a time of economic uncertainty the Government should be trying to help people get around, not restrict them.

Today's protests should act as an urgent wake-up call to ministers. Our current privatised system, which is costing taxpayers a staggering £1.2 billion a year, may be a wonderful Christmas present for train companies but is a huge squeeze on the public purse and commuters