Responding to the news that rail fares will increase by 2.7% for millions of commuters on the 2nd January next year, Liberal Democrats Shadow Chancellor Ed Davey said:

With the railways in crisis and passengers continuing to suffer delays and cancellations on a daily basis, only the Conservatives would think it is the right policy to put fares up now.

It’s time to get tough – and that starts by enforcing a rail fare freeze now.

The Conservatives have done nothing to fix the problems across the network and if anything have made things far worse – with the botched timetable changes last year causing chaos across the country.

Liberal Democrats will cancel this rise and freeze rail fares for the whole of the next Parliament – giving commuters some respite while we sort out the mess in rail franchises.