RAIL fares are set to increase by up to 3.2 per cent in January, with the cost of some season tickets to rise by hundreds of pounds.

It will mean that the cost of a standard season ticket from Alton to London Waterloo will rise from £4,204 to £4,338.53.

Determined by the Retail Price Index, the figure is below the 3.6 per cent increase to regulated fares seen in January this year - the steepest rise in five years - but, rail users argue, continues the trend of fare hikes far outstripping average wage rises.

While rail industry leaders said the fare hike was needed to “underpin once-in-a-generation investment” in the railways, commuters believe the standard of service should warrant a halt to the constant cranking up of fares - a view supported by the Alton Line Users’ Association (ALUA).

In a statement, the passenger watchdog which serves the Alton and Farnham Waterloo line, stated: “ALUA is strongly of the belief that fares should not be increased at all this year in view of the very poor service which our railways have currently been providing.

“The increase will cause more people to use the roads, increasing congestion and pollution. This is a real cost both to the economy and the environment and affects everyone.

“According to the BBC website on August 15, research has found that the cost of rail travel has increased more than twice as fast as wages since 2008.

“By comparison, fuel duty has not been increased at all for eight years. ALUA is not anti-car but believes that rail passengers are unfairly penalised compared to road users.”

While Transport Minister Chris Grayling had called for future rail fare and wage increases to be based on the lower Consumer Price Index rather than the higher Retail Price Index, the RMT union accused him of trying to impose a “pay cap” on its members.

The fury broke after Mr Grayling told the BBC that not only did he want to see “lower levels of increases for passengers in future” but suggested that if the lower inflation measure was used to calculate ticket price increases, then it should be used for costs, including annual pay rises.

RMT head Mick Cash responded, saying: “If Chris Grayling seriously thinks that front-line rail workers are going to pay the price for his gross incompetence and the greed of the private train companies, he’s got another think coming.

“RMT will fight any attempt to impose a pay cap on our members in a drive to protect private train company profits.”

Under the current system the UK Government is responsible for regulating 40 per cent or rail fares, including season tickets, the remaining 60 per cent being set by the rail companies.

The maximum rise for regulated fares is currently set by July’s Retail Price Index, although the Government’s preferred measure of inflation would be the Consumer Price Index, which rose to two-and-a-half per cent in July.

Had Mr Grayling been able to use Consumer Price Index in January, the cost of an annual season ticket from Woking (on the Alton to Waterloo line) to London would have been £30 cheaper (£3,218 instead of £3,248).

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has described the proposed increase in regulated fares as “an insult to everyone who has suffered from the chaos on Britain’s railways”.

Commenting on the fare hike, Alton Town Council’s transport spokesman, Graham Titterington, said: “Rail fare increases are never welcome as they are, to a large extent, an unavoidable expense for most travellers. Likewise every year the justification is that the money is needed to pay for new trains, infrastructure improvements and expanded capacity.

“However, users of the Alton line have not had any new trains since 2004 and the infrastructure was reduced to a single line many years ago.

“There are no plans to increase capacity despite all the new housing planned for the area, which includes the Aldershot new town on the former Army land.

“Furthermore, travellers on South Western Railway have had a particularly bad year and a further hike to pay for improved services will be heavily resented.”

Fellow rail user and district councillor Robert Saunders added: “The new franchisee serving the Alton line has had a torrid first 12 months. I know the first thing commuters ask on a daily basis is how late or overcrowded will my journey to work will be?”