TRAIN fares will go up by an average of 2.3 per cent next year, the rail industry has announced.

The figure is the average increase across all rail tickets and will take effect from January 2.

The industry-wide hike comes after Abellio Greater Anglia announced , in August, an increase to its fares of almost 2 per cent next year.

With both increases, the price of a season ticket from Colchester to London Liverpool Street, without onward tube travel, will rise from £4,840 to £4,928 - an increase of £88 per year.

Lianna Etkind, of the Campaign for Better Transport condemned the industry increase, warning some passengers are "finding themselves priced off the railways".

She said: "The train operating companies and the Government need to work closely together to provide fairer, simpler and cheaper fares making sure people are always sold the cheapest ticket available.

"Between 1995 and 2016 passengers have seen average fares increase by 23.5 per cent and much more needs to be done by train operators and the Government to give them a truly affordable railway."

Ms Etkind also accused the Government of "dragging its feet" over the introduction of flexible season tickets with "fair discounts" for the eight million part-time workers across the UK.

She added: "It is not right that part-time workers have to buy expensive one-off tickets, or season tickets which they then waste on the days they don't work."

Paul Plummer, chief executive of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators and Network Rail, said: "We understand how passengers feel when fares go up, and we know that in some places they haven't always got the service they pay for.

"Around 97p in every pound passengers pay goes back into running and improving services.

"Fares are influenced by government policy, either through government-regulated fares such as season tickets or as a result of the payments train companies make to government.

"This money helps government to support the biggest investment in our railway since Victorian times."