Commuters were queuing out the door to buy tickets at the new £26m Rochester station as a protest against rail fares got underway.

The #RailRipOff campaign was launched today by Action for Rail and Labour politicians, prompted by another increase in rail fares.

Southeastern passengers will pay 1% more, a smaller increase than others parts of the UK. The rise actually gives Kent commuters a 0.1% saving compared to the rest of the country but Medway Labour leader Vince Maple said it is a long term issue.

The councillor, who was at Rochester station this morning with other campaigners, explained: “Fares have risen three times more than wages in the last five years.

“People feel like they are paying too much for the service they are getting. Across Europe passengers pay substantially less and generally get a better service. People here feel they are being ripped off.

“Tickets costs too much, more staff are needed and the service is not that good.”

He added: “There were lots of unhappy commuters at Rochester this morning. There was only one ticket office open and long queues.

"It is a very busy day, with people returning to work after Christmas and many people buying their annual season tickets. You would think there would be more than one ticket office open at north Kent’s flagship new £26 million station on a day like today.

"And there were reports of similar queues at Rainham and Strood."

A Southeastern spokesman said there is always only one ticket office in operation at Rochester, and the other is there for the future if it is needed.

Cllr Maple was joined by five other Labour party members and between them they handed out 500 leaflets. There were additional protests at a number of stations across Kent and the rest of the country.

He said: “We actually ran out of leaflets. People were very eager to take them. We are urging people to write to their MP to say they are unhappy. Labour is calling for a publicly owned railway. It is something Jeremy Corbyn feels very passionately about.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn joined campaigners at Kings Cross in London.

Southeastern said it will be investing millions of pounds over the next three years to refurbish trains and stations and provide better information.