SAVAGE new year rail fare rise will leave many season ticket holders hit by more than 20 per cent increases during the life of this Parliament, campaigners warned yesterday.

The increases will be especially galling for many at a time of wage stagnation — with bigger fares dwarfing average pay rises, and widespread disruption on the nation’s railways.

Further problems were reported across the rail network yesterday, with lengthy delays and a number of operators running reduced services.

That added to the travel misery experienced by many over the Christmas period that has thrown a spotlight on Network Rail bosses’ huge bonus packages.

The latest increase, which comes into effect on Friday, will see regulated fares, including season tickets, increasing by up to 2.5 per cent and fares overall going up by an average of 2.2 per cent.

Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) cited the example of those commuting to London from Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, who will have to suffer with a 2.43 per cent fare rise, with their 2015 ticket going up to an eye-watering £4,888.

That’s risen 23.5 per cent, or £930, since January 2010, soaring around four times higher than average wages over the same period — pay has gone up just 6.9 per cent.

CBT public transport campaigner Martin Abrams said the unequal rises meant getting to work takes up an increasing share of income “hitting both household budgets and the economy.”

Rail union RMT condemned the fare rise and published figures which show that government subsidies to train companies came to just over £4 billion in 2012-13, strengthening the case for renationalisation.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “As the travelling public gear up for the new year fares hike, we are blowing away the myth that the extra cash is invested back into services when in fact it combines with taxpayer subsidies to fuel a £4bn privatised rail rip-off that is a one-way ticket to the bank for the train companies.

“The scandal of the British people paying the highest fares in Europe to travel on clapped-out and overcrowded trains will be compounded by the new year average rise — an increase which dwarfs average pay increases and which will hit the poorest the hardest.”

Campaign group Railfuture’s Bruce Williamson added: “Fares need to reflect reality in terms of inflation, and with the most recent figures for CPI inflation just 1 per cent and falling, this represents yet another unfair squeezing of rail passengers’ wallets.”

Meanwhile Network Rail (NR) chief executive Mark Carne belatedly confirmed yesterday that he will not be taking a bonus this year after admitting his company had “disappointed too many passengers.”

The chief executive had initially refused to be drawn on whether, in light of the debacle, he would be accepting a performance-related annual bonus estimated to be worth around £135,000.

But yesterday Mr Carne, who joined NR earlier this year, said: “We have disappointed too many passengers particularly at King’s Cross and Paddington in the aftermath of Christmas and for that I am sincerely sorry.

“Ultimately I am accountable for the performance of the railway, and bonuses are performance related, and I think at the moment our performance is not good enough.”

But he warned rail travellers that NR was not going to be able to turn its performance around quickly, claiming this was a result of “decades of under-investment” in the railways.

Leader of rail union TSSA Manuel Cortes welcomed the decision, adding: “But, like many of his trains, it is running late — 72 hours late in this case.

“He should have announced it on Sunday when the level of chaos suffered by tens of thousands of passengers caught up in the King’s Cross shutdown became clear.

“We hope that his fellow executives will now follow suit and announce they will also be giving up their large bonuses as well.”