PRICE hikes for commuters who will pay hundreds more in train fares have been branded “lunacy” by rail user groups.

Regulated rail fares, including season tickets, are to rise by 3.6 per cent next year.

The rise, which is linked July’s retail price index measure of inflation, will take effect from January.

The figure is the highest it has been since 2011, when it was five per cent.

An annual season ticket from Colchester to London Liverpool Street will cost £5,105 - a rise of £177 from this year.

Ian Edwards, who represents the Marks Tey rail users group, said: “This is a joke, we are paying an absolute fortune. The service is utterly appalling and it’s just getting worse. It’s lunacy.”

He is taking the matter up with Colchester MP Will Quince, saying commuters are sick and tired of being ignored.

He said: “There are already people who have stopped commuting because of the cost.

“I’m beginning to lose adjectives to describe how bad it is.”

Greater Anglia said the fares policy for regulated rail fares including season tickets and standard day returns is set by the Government.

A spokesman added: “We are constantly working to improve services and offer better value for money to our customers. We are currently investing huge amounts in the railway in East Anglia including £1.4 billion replacing every single train with brand new trains from 2019 and we’re spending £60 million improving stations.”

But Derek Monnery, of the Essex Rail Users’ Federation, said more improvements needed to be made. He said: “It’s quite unjustifiable. I’m not at all impressed, everybody is going to be worse off as a result of this.”