It’s Now Cheaper To Fly To Milan Than Commute Between London And Birmingham For One Day

As of January 2 2018, the average rail fare in the UK is now 3.4% more expensive – the biggest increase since 2010. What a way to start the year.

An annual Virgin Trains season ticket between London and Birmingham now costs £10,567 – a rise of £2,539 since 2010, according to the Guardian.

With roughly 260 working days in the year, that costs the commuter about £40 a day – the price of a round trip to Milan, and many other European cities.

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Other commuter routes affected by steep price hikes include Liverpool to Manchester – which saw a rise of £108 to £3,152, and Maidenhead to London – a rise of £104 to £3,092, according to the BBC.

In comparison to Europe, we’re definitely being short-changed in the UK, in Rome and Paris a monthly rail pass is just £61, and average fares for 31 mile commutes in Germany and Spain are under 5% of commuter’s salaries, while some Brits are spending 13% of their salaries just to get to work.

This price hike is down to a government decision to increase the amount passengers are paying for the cost of running the railways, rather than those costs being covered by taxpayers.

70% of the cost of running the railways in the UK now comes from fares.

Protests organised by RMT rail union have been going on today across the UK at stations including Euston, King’s Cross and Birmingham New Street as people return to work after the Christmas holidays and New Year’s Day.

People have also been using Twitter to express their anger at the price hike, using the hashtag #RailFail.

So what exactly is all the extra money being spent on? ‘Dramatic improvements’ apparently.

‘Over the next 18 months alone the country will see an unprecedented transformation in rail services, including dramatic improvements across the Thameslink network and through the Great North Rail Project,’ explained Paul Plummer, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, which brings together train operators and Network Rail.

What these ‘dramatic improvements’ are and whether they will actually change things for commuters in the UK remain to be seen, but people are starting to tire of this new year, new fare hike saga.

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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.