Virgin Trains has called on the Government to lift the cap on long-distance rail fares.
Tony Collins, chief executive of Virgin, which runs services between London and Euston on the West Coast Main Line, called for deregulation of intercity fares after Philip Hammond, the Secretary of State for Transport, suggested that passengers could face sharp increases in fares if the present funding regime for setting them were scrapped as part of the autumn spending review.
However, passenger groups and unions criticised the move, and said that it would leave passengers at the mercy of operators because taxpayer funding for rail is likely to dry up.
Train operators are preparing to introduce fare increases of 6 per cent in January, using the old formula of RPI