After a miserable year for British rail it has today been announced that train fares will be hiked by an average of 2.3 per cent from 2 January.
With Southern Rail putting passengers through a torrid year and franchises across the country crumbling owing to a lack of investment, the price increase will come as a slap in the face for most commuters.
Some unregulated fares are likely to rise by considerably more than 2.3 per cent, which far outstrips the inflation rate, which is currently running at 0.9%, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index.
In Scotland, a government spokeswoman says they are considering fare freezes if it could “enable us to reduce costs to passengers while still delivering our ambitious infrastructure programme”.
@SouthernRailUK how the hell can you justify rail fare increases! How is this fair when such timetables have been a normality all year!?… pic.twitter.com/5lMv3frixk
— Franky Fruit (@franky_fruit) December 2, 2016