Mid-Essex rail commuters have reacted angrily to finding their season ticket fares going up far more than they bargained for.

Witham passengers were shocked when they went to renew their annual season tickets to London and found the price had gone up by 5.3 per cent - as opposed to the 4.1 per cent First Great Eastern and national average.

David Bigg, chairman of Witham and Braintree Rail Users Association, said a season ticket between Witham and London now costs £2,820 compared to £2,680 last year.

Mr Bigg said: "There's no way that you can get 5.3 per cent given the level of service, so there was an overall feeling that we had all been conned.

"It seems this part of Essex is getting the thin end of the wedge and getting fare rises above the regional average when our service is worse than on the rest of the network.

"We would have lived with 4.1 per cent, which was fair and the same as last year. We'll have to live with this increase but we don't have to live with it happily and we won't."

A First Great Eastern spokeswoman confirmed the cost of London season tickets from Witham had gone up by more than its 4.1 per cent average, and said those from Braintree were now 5.7 per cent higher.

But she said this was largely due to Transport for London increasing the portion of the fare that went to it on top of the First Great Eastern increase.

The spokeswoman said: "Due to the fares base it gets spread across, it's not that we're picking on Witham and Braintree, it's a very, very complex thing."

Published Wednesday January 7, 2004

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