MORE than a million rail commuters will see their fares rise above inflation every year for the next three years.

Season tickets in the South East will rise by an average of £60 in January. Thousands of travellers who commute greater distances, such as from Peterborough, Milton Keynes and Oxford to London, will pay about £120 more, with similar rises in 2005 and 2006.

The Government said that passengers would be made to pay a much greater share of the true cost of their journeys. It scrapped the policy introduced at rail privatisation of pegging season tickets and saver tickets at 1 per cent below inflation. Fares will instead rise by 1 per cent above inflation each January until 2006.

Passenger groups were incensed by the announcement, which came after punctuality figures showed that a fifth of trains were still arriving late. Tens of thousands of commuters also endured long delays yesterday after lines into Paddington were closed due to a fire at Burnham, near Slough. All trains between Reading and Paddington were cancelled and Thames Trains said services might not resume until this afternoon.

Alistair Darling, the Transport Secretary, said the proportion of the cost of running the railways paid by passengers had dwindled from 72 per cent four years ago to around 53 per cent this year. The taxpayer pays the rest.

He said it was reasonable for fares to increase in line with extra investment in the rail system, including 4,000 new carriages and the £10 billion upgrade of the West Coast Main Line from London to Glasgow.

The Strategic Rail Authority said caps on long-distance off-peak fares, known as saver tickets, would be scrapped in 2006 if companies had improved their services. The caps could be removed sooner if a “better regime” could be devised before then, it added.

Richard Bowker, the authority’s chairman, is keen to get rid of price controls on inter-city companies because he believes the rise of budget airlines and car ownership means that most people are no longer dependent on rail for long journeys.

The authority also found that overcrowding was sometimes worse on off-peak trains which were governed by price controls than on services in the peak period.

The fare increases may be accompanied by a concession to passenger groups in the form of a national discount railcard. The authority said it would open discussions with train operators about introducing such a card.

The system of linking train companies’ performance to fares, with maximum adjustments of either plus 2 per cent or minus 2 per cent, is to be scrapped after the authority decided that it was too confusing for passengers.

The Rail Passengers Council said: “Passengers will question why they should be footing the bill and they will be disappointed at this above-inflation rise.”

Don Foster, the Liberal Democrat transport spokesman, said: “Britain’s rail passengers already pay the highest fares in Europe, and get fewer miles for their money every year.”

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