Hard-working commuters are now paying on average 27 per cent more for their train fares under the Tories, because of yet another year of rail fare hikes that came into force yesterday (Monday January 2).
Figures released by Labour show the average cost of an annual season ticket is now £594 more than 2010.
Annual season tickets from Sheffield Meadowhall to Leeds have risen by £512 or 26 per cent since 2010. These trains travel through Rotherham and Barnsley, stopping at Rotherham Central, Swinton, Bolton-on-Dearne, Goldthorpe and Thurnscoe.
Wentworth and Dearne MP John Healey has slammed the Tory government for hammering passengers and commuters.
He said: “Train users in Rotherham and Barnsley have been hit again and again by eye-watering rail fare rises. Fares here have gone up by 26 per cent under the Tories, far outstripping any increase in most people’s pay packets.
“For many people here travelling by train isn’t a luxury, it’s how they get to work every day.
“Labour’s policy is to bring the railways into public ownership so they can be run for passengers not profit. That means fairer fares, investment in a 21st century railway and giving passengers a stronger voice.”