Rail passengers in the UK have seen ticket prices rise by an average of 2.3 per cent on the first week day of the new year.

The increase, which is pegged to inflation, covers regulated fares, including season tickets, and unregulated, such as off-peak tickets.

Following protests about the continued price increases, the government said it was delivering the biggest rail modernisation programme for more than a century.

The government uses the previous July’s retail prices index measure of inflation to determine increases in regulated train fares, which was 1.9 per cent.

Train operating companies set the prices of other tickets but are bound by competition rules.

According to the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, around 97 pence in every pound paid by passengers goes back into running and improving services.