UK train fares '10 times pricier'
Train fares in the UK can cost up to 10 times more than tickets for equivalent journeys in other European countries, new figures suggest.
The Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) said a 2011 season ticket from Woking in Surrey to London purchased last December, including Tube travel in the capital, cost £3,268.
A similar 22-mile journey in Italy, from Velletri to Rome, cost Italian season ticket holders £336.17, the CBT data revealed.
Various other journeys of a similar distance in different European countries suggested commuters in mainland Europe benefited from considerably cheaper train fares than UK passengers.
The CBT said an equivalent annual season ticket from Ballancourt-sur-Essonne to Paris cost £924.66, another from Strausberg to Berlin was £705.85 and season ticket holders on the Collado-Villalba to Madrid journey paid £653.74.
Rail commuters might be viewing the findings with dismay as they take in this week's news that UK train fares are set for significant rises in January next year.
Copyright Press Association 2012





