RAIL USERS in the city have blasted the latest increase in ticket prices and say they are fed up with not getting the service they pay for.

Commuters at Foregate Street Station reacted angrily and with frustration to the 3.1 per cent average increase on tickets which came into force on January 2.

Patrick Newton, who catches the train from Bromsgrove to Worcester for work, was fed up with his ticket not even guaranteeing him a seat on his morning commute.

He said: “Every morning I have to stand. There is never a seat. It’s cramped and it just puts you in a bad mood.

“I don’t drive so I’ve got no other option but to catch the train and it hasn’t improved in years yet I’m expected to pay more. It might only go up by a pound or so but it all adds up.

“I’d like to see at least some improvement if they’re going to put the cost up every year.”

Jane Fellows, who catches the train to Birmingham New Street from Worcester, said: “I have to use the train and I must catch 20 trains a week. A good 75 per cent are late or cancelled.

“There are more days when they’re late than on time. I’m over the moon if I actually get to Birmingham when I’m supposed to. Three carriages on a train during rush hour, I mean who comes with that? It’s horrible on there some days. Then to top it all off they put the prices up. Ridiculous.”

According to figures provided by the Office of Rail and Road, almost 4,000 trains were cancelled between July and September last year by West Midlands Trains which runs services between Birmingham, Hereford and Worcester as well as Malvern and Droitwich.

It was the same for Great Western Railway, which runs trains between London and Oxford through Worcester and Malvern, where more than 5,200 trains were cancelled.

Councillor Lynn Denham, who is Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Worcester, spoke with commuters outside Foregate Street.

She said: “Our train fares are amongst the highest in Europe yet punctuality has fallen to a 13 year low. Passengers are fed up with the ‘daily squeeze’ as their ticket doesn’t even buy them a seat.

“I am told that on the line from Worcester to Birmingham anyone joining after Droitwich has to stand. We need a rail service that is run in the interests of passengers and taxpayers, not for private profit.”