BROMSGROVE Rail User Group has slammed the annual train fare increase which for 2018 will go up by an average of 3.4 per cent.
The rise, which is linked to the Retail Price Index (RPI) and comes into force on January 2, will be the biggest since 2013.
BRUG chairman Mike Ponsonby said: “The increase is another example of how rail users are being fleeced by these large operating companies which at the same time are receiving huge subsidies from Her Majesty’s Government.”
He added London Midland, about to hand over its franchise to West Midlands Railway, received £820million from the Government in 2008 to run services.
The Rail Delivery Group claimed, although a ‘significant’ rise, 97 per cent of fare income was reinvested in improving and running the railways.
A rise of 3.4 per cent would see an annual rail season ticket from Bromsgrove to Birmingham New Street increase from £1,152 to £1,191.16.
