Lib Dem anger at 'high' rail fares

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The party looked at "anytime" single rail tickets across Europe. It found that in Britain, £10 only takes travellers an average of 26 miles. In comparison, £10 in Serbia provides 512 miles of rail travel.

The Lib Dems said even with an off-peak return ticket in Britain, £10 only buys 56 miles of travel on the railways, making Britain's off-peak returns more expensive than single tickets in more than half of European countries.

Lib Dem transport spokesman Norman Baker said: "There can be no doubt that British rail passengers are being ripped off. Nowhere else in Europe are passengers taken advantage of in this way.

"In Serbia, £10 will take you almost the distance between London and the Swiss Alps, while an English ticket will take you only as far as Basildon."

He went on: "It seems ministers don't give a damn about rail passengers, with inflation-busting fare rises that will force some travellers to swap the train for the car - and every indication that this will only get worse.

"The Government has got transport policy upside down, with more polluting forms of travel regularly cheaper than more environmentally-friendly alternatives.

"Ministers are putting a huge amount of effort into forcing through an environmentally disastrous third runway at Heathrow while ignoring the plight of rail passengers."