by political editor Paul Francis

Kent rail passengers are facing another hike in fares while travellers elsewhere in the country are to benefit from a cut in ticket prices because of negative inflation.

The news that users of Southeastern services are braced for a 1.6 per cent increase in season ticket prices from January has prompted a political row.

Kent MPs have criticised the hike, with one saying commuters were being fleeced.

But transport minister and Gillingham MP Paul Clark said passengers were beginning to recoup the benefits of major investment in rail services, with domestic services finally being able to use the High Speed rail line.

The increase has also been denounced by rail user watchdog group Passenger Focus.

Under the Government’s policy on regulated fares, ticket prices are not permitted to rise by more than one per cent above the Retail Price Index. Because the RPI is minus 1.4 per cent, most rail operators have had to cut their fares by 0.4 per cent.

But Southeastern has a higher cap of three per cent to pay for the high speed commuter service to St Pancras, meaning the county’s rail passengers will not enjoy a similar reduction.

Ashwin Kumar, Passenger Focus director, said: "Passengers in Kent will be astonished if they have to pay higher fares for their train tickets next year. How can fares go up yet again when many prices in the rest of the economy are falling? We need to question whether fares can keep on rising faster than inflation."

Tonbridge and Malling MP Sir John Stanley said rail commuters were paying the price for a decision by the Government to charge franchise holders a premium in the final years of their contract and steadily reduce subsidies.

"The Government is phasing out the subsidy altogether and obliging Southeastern to pay a premium in the last years of its franchise. They are effectively paying a government tax for the privilege of running the service. People around Kent are being fleeced because they are a captive market. They have no alternative but to go to London by train and in the current climate many are going through considerable financial hardship," he said.

The criticism was echoed by Maidstone and Weald MP Ann Widdecombe. "Southeastern is proposing to cut services to Cannon Street but now wants my constituents to pay more for their tickets."

Transport minister Paul Clark said that while Southeastern was permitted to increase fares by three per cent above RPI, the extra investment was bringing dividends.

He also said the Government had stepped in and vetoed prices hikes of five per cent on some routes.

"It is not so many years ago that Southeastern had some of the oldest rail stock in the country. And within the regulated fares regime, there was flexibility to increase fares on some individual routes by five per cent and that has been ruled out by Lord Adonis."