Commuters stage rail fare protests
Protests have been held at railway stations as commuters hit by the annual rise in train fares returned to work after the festive break.
Protests have been held at railway stations as commuters hit by the annual rise in train fares returned to work after the festive break.
Campaigners Action For Rail organised the day of action after the average increase across Britain of 2.3% came into force on Monday.
The trade-union backed group organised demonstrations at more than 100 stations throughout Tuesday, including in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow.
The rise in fares, which is the highest since January 2014 when they increased by 2.8%, has been criticised by public transport campaigners.
Figures vary between operators, with fares on Virgin Trains East Coast services up by 4.9%.
The Government uses the previous July's retail prices index (RPI) measure of inflation to determine increases in regulated fares, which was 1.9%.
These are around 40% of all tickets and include season tickets on most commuter routes and some off-peak return tickets on long-distance journeys.
Train operating companies set the prices of other tickets but are bound by competition rules.