Residents in Birmingham have slammed the latest increase in rail fares for commuters, branding the decision "disgusting".
GB News reporter Jack Carson spoke to outraged locals where they expressed their concern for the ever-rising cost of travel, following a 4.6 per cent increase in prices.
Defending the hike, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander assured that the increase is the "lowest in three years", but acknowledged it would "take time for trust to be restored" among commuters.
Speaking to GB News, locals told Jack that the increase will affect "a lot of people" using the country's rail services.
Birmingham locals have hit out at the latest spike in rail fares
PA / GB News
One Birmingham resident fumed: "I think it's disgusting, really. They're trying to get people to travel on the public transport and they put the fares up."
Echoing his frustration, another local told GB News: "I'm very disappointed, really, they take quite a lot of my wages already.
"We're all trying to be environmentally friendly and do the right thing, so it will hit me and it's going to hit a lot of people."
The price of a three year rail card has risen from £70 to £80, and one year card has increased from £30 to £35.
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Rail fares have risen by 4.6 per cent despite a record-low reliability of services
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Noting how the price increase is not reflective of the "price of inflation", another Birmingham local told GB News: "I'm a bit disappointed.
"When you think about your average costs for living going up, they don't reflect how much they've gone up with the actual rail fares."
Hitting out at the increase, Michael Solomon Williams from Campaign for Better Transport said: "With food and energy costs going up, today's rail fare rise will pile further misery on hard-pressed households.
"Cost is the number one barrier to getting more people travelling by rail, so the government must address the rising cost of train travel as part of its forthcoming rail reforms."
Commuters told GB News that the increase is 'disgusting'
GB News
In a statement, Alexander said: "I understand that passengers are frustrated rail fares keep rising despite unacceptable levels of delays and cancellations, which is why this Government made sure this was the lowest increase in three years, and below the growth in average earnings.
"We inherited a railway that was not fit for purpose, and I know it will take time for trust to be restored, with trains turning up on time, when and where they're needed."
According to the office for Rail and Road Reports, cancellations and delays over the past year have been the worst since March of 2015.
On British Rail services, 1 in 25 services were cancelled last year, with more than 217,000 journeys being axed.
