LONDON, Jan.2 (Xinhua) -- Millions of train passengers in Britain face another annual rail fares increase by an average of 2.7 percent from Thursday.
The rise, announced by industry body the Rail Delivery Group in November 2019, is lower than the 3.1 percent increase at the beginning of last year.
According to the train companies, it is the third year in a row that average rail fares have been held below Retail Price Index (RPI), the inflation measure on which rises are based.
But some long-distance commuters saw the annual cost of getting to work increase by more than 100 pounds (about 131.86 U.S. dollars), reported local media.
Rail Delivery Group said most of the rail fares go towards the cost of running the railway and ticket money will enable unprecedented investment to improve journeys.
It promised to replace half the nation's trains new for old by 2025 and to deliver 1,000 extra train carriages across the country in 2020.
However, fewer than half (47 percent) of passengers are satisfied with the "value for money" policy, according to the latest survey by watchdog Transport Focus.
"We speak to thousands of passengers each year and we know that less than half feel they get value for money. After a year of pretty poor performance in some areas passengers just want a consistent day-to-day service they can rely on and a better chance of getting a seat," David Sidebottom, director at Transport Focus, said in a statement.
He encouraged passengers to make their voice heard over the fare rise and called on operators to deliver a better service.
BBC reported that protests will be held against the fare increase on Thursday, including a demonstration outside London King's Cross station.
