Millions of commuters will pay almost £250 more for annual train tickets in the New Year 

Millions of commuters will pay as much as £243 more for annual train tickets from the New Year, the rail industry has announced.

The average price of fares will go up by 2.7 per cent from January 2 in a blow to passengers already enduring overcrowded and unreliable trains.

In another insult to long-suffering commuters, the new fares will kick in on the same day militant union officials end their 27-day Christmas strike on South Western Railway.

The rise will see the cost of an annual fare for the one-hour, 69-mile journey between Swindon and London Paddington rise from £9,016 to £9,259.

The cost of many other annual season tickets is set to surge by more than £100. The exact fares for other journeys and tickets will be announced by rail operators today.

The 2.7 per cent rise is linked to the Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation measure, which was set in July at 2.8 per cent. 

Most fares are set by train companies but about 45 per cent are pegged to the RPI rate, including annual season tickets.

Critics have urged the Government to freeze fares or link them to the Consumer Price Index instead, which is significantly lower and is the Bank of England’s preferred measure.

The rise was announced as a survey found only 47 per cent of passengers believe their train ticket offers value for money. This fell to 30 per cent among commuters. 

In another insult to long-suffering commuters, the new fares will kick in on the same day militant union officials end their 27-day Christmas strike on South Western Railway

Anthony Smith, of watchdog Transport Focus, which carried out the poll, said: ‘As fares rise, passengers must call on operators to deliver a better service.’

Network Rail data shows only 65 per cent of trains arrived at scheduled station stops within one minute of the timetable in the past 12 months.

Paul Plummer, from industry body the Rail Delivery Group, which revealed the average increase in fares, said: ‘We understand that no one wants to pay more to travel, which is why train companies have for the third year in a row held the average fare increases below inflation while still investing to improve journeys.’