CAMPAIGNERS canvassed commuters at Bolton Railway Station yesterday over further rises to rail fares.

Members of the Labour party and trade unionists, who form part of the Action for Rail Campaign, demonstrated outside the station in the morning and evening.

They handed out leaflets which took the form of a postcard with a Freepost address, enabling passengers to contact their local MP and ask them to support the renationalisation of the railways and reform of the current pricing system.

An average 1.1 per cent increase in the cost of train tickets came into effect for passengers in England, Scotland and Wales yesterday.

The rise is the smallest in six years, but campaigners in Bolton said for the current service on offer there should not be a rise at all.

Demonstrator Ian Coulthard, from Smithills, said: “We have been handing out leaflets today which are postcards that can be sent directly to MPs, urging them to back the renationalisation of the railways and to reform the current extortionate pricing system.

“Our rail fares are the most expensive in Europe and have risen much faster than wages in the last five years. We have overcrowded and ageing rolling stock here in Bolton — with many of the current train carriages on Bolton routes having been built at Horwich (Loco Works) — which was built donkeys years ago.”

He added: “We shifted loads of the postcards yesterday and received a good reception from passengers.”

One Bolton MP who will be pleased to hear from constituents on the matter is long-time rail campaigner David Crausby who agreed that people should not be paying more for the service on offer.

Mr Crausby said: “1.1 per cent may sound quite small — but when inflation is close to zero then that makes it bigger.

“When you consider that rail fares have risen by a total of about 25 per cent in recent years, then it is totally unacceptable.

“We shouldn’t even be talking about a rise, we should be talking about reductions for people who are coping with very low wage inflation.

“We must already have amongst the most expensive rail fares in the world and it is not as if we are a sparsely populated country either. As I have said, for the service people in Bolton and elsewhere are getting — there should not be an increase in fares at all.”