Train journeys are now more expensive than holiday flights as rail fares rise again by 4% 

Train commuters are paying more for daily tickets than the cost of flights to holiday hotspots – as they face fare hikes of nearly 4 per cent tomorrow.

Train users shell out between £22.10 and £35.70 for an anytime peak return ticket between Manchester and Leeds, research has found. 

However, return flights from Manchester Airport to Venice cost £28 or £33 to Berlin.

Train users shell out between £22.10 and £35.70 for an anytime peak return ticket between Manchester and Leeds, research has found [File photo]

Peak-time commuters between London and Birmingham, who pay between £52 and £188, could get return flights to 51 European places from London airports for the same price range or less. 

It comes as rail fares increase by 3.8 per cent – the sharpest rise since 2013. Linked to the retail prices index, the annual rise will see a typical season ticket go up by nearly £120 – to £3,263.

Paul Tuohy, of the Campaign for Better Transport, said: ‘This couldn’t come at a worse time and will add to the cost-of-living crisis.’ 

The Department for Transport said: ‘This balances passengers’ needs with taxpayers, many of whom don’t use the railways but have helped keep them running during the pandemic.’

Train commuters are paying more for daily tickets than the cost of flights to holiday hotspots – as they face fare hikes of nearly 4 per cent tomorrow 

The research compared the prices of rail and air fares bought in the second week of February for passengers planning to travel last week.

Campaigners fear the hike will discourage staff still working from home from returning to the office.

The annual rise usually comes on 1 January but has been delayed due to the pandemic and to give commuters more time to plan.

In London, bus and Tube fares will be hiked by 4.8 per cent.

It comes at a torrid time for the industry, which is struggling to entice travellers back onto the railways despite all coronavirus regulations being dropped.

Operators were also hit hard by storms Dudley, Eunice and Franklin this month, when trees fell across lines and tracks and stations were flooded. Around half of all services were cancelled on one day.

The industry has been bailed out to the tune of more than £15billion since the start of the pandemic, but daily passenger numbers are still less than two-thirds of pre-Covid levels.

Passengers also face chaos over the Easter bank holiday, with engineering works set to paralyse large swathes of the network.

Works are expected to affect the schedules of at least five operators, including on the West Coast Main Line, which carries the most passengers of any major rail route.

There has already been widespread anger at the lack of trains on some routes after operators were asked to scale back services by the Department for Transport to save money.

Around one in six trains which ran pre-pandemic is yet to return to the network.

Louise Haigh, Labour’s transport spokesman, said: ‘Commuters the length and breadth of this country are being taken for a ride by this scandalous rail rip-off.

‘To add insult to injury, tomorrow the Conservatives want to clobber passengers with another brutal fare hike.’