Britain’s worst-performing train company has imposed the highest fare increases of any operator since privatisation, more than doubling the price of open tickets, a study has found.

Since 1995 the average standard single fare of First Great Western has risen by 145 per cent, well above inflation over the period of 41 per cent.

Passengers have been subject to a postcode lottery on fares with some companies reducing the cost of rail travel in real terms while others have taken advantage of their local monopolies to impose a succession of above-inflation increases.

FGW consistently comes bottom of the punctuality table and the latest figures show that almost a fifth of its trains ran late last year. It also regularly fails to provide enough carriages. Last weekend more than 300 passengers had to squeeze into a two-carriage train from Oxford to London on a service scheduled to have eight carriages.

In January FGW raised fares for many passengers by 10 per cent, prompting a fares strike by passengers in the Bath and Bristol area. A standard open return from Exeter to London rose from £163 to £179.

The study, by fares analyst Barry Doe, found starkly different costs for each mile travelled in different parts of the country. South West Trains charges 30p a mile for standard open fares but FGW, National Express East Coast and Virgin charge 50-60p.

Virgin has raised standard fares by 135 per cent since privatisation and first class fares by 160 per cent.

By contrast most types of fare at Great Northern, now part of First Capital Connect, are slightly cheaper than they were in 1995.

The study also shows that occasional rail users have borne the brunt of fare rises while season ticket holders have been protected by Government price caps. Season tickets and saver tickets, which account for 43 per cent of the total paid in fares, are set by the Department for Transport.

Season tickets are still cheaper on most routes than they were at privatisation because they were capped at 1 per cent below inflation in the late 1990s.

Passengers travelling off-peak, when there is often plenty of spare capacity and fares have been much lower traditionally, have been caught by the decision by train companies to abolish the SuperSaver ticket. Off-peak passengers on FGW, Virgin and East Midlands Trains pay 85 per cent more than in 1995.

Unregulated fares are likely to carry on rising well above inflation for at least the next six years because the Government is making train companies pay billions of pounds in premiums for franchise rights.

Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, announced in July that, by 2014, passengers would have to pay 75 per cent of the cost of running the railway and taxpayers would pay the remaining 25 per cent. The £10 billion annual cost is at present divided evenly between fares and subsidy.

Under British Rail it cost less than £4 billion at today’s prices to run the network, though it carried 20 per cent fewer trains.

Passenger Focus, the rail passenger watchdog, said that the survey showed there was no connection in the privatised railway between the quality of service and the price passengers pay.

Anthony Smith, the chief executive of the watchdog, said: “Passengers feel exploited by this monopoly industry. We are concerned that the affordable walk-up railway is dying on its feet.

“Season tickets remain incredibly good value but rail travel has become very expensive for people unable to afford a lump sum in advance. The system is penalising part-time workers.”

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