CAMPAIGNERS opposed to higher Rail fares will be asking Oxford commuters to support their fight.

The Fair Fares Now campaign launched last week, with a fortnight of action calling on politicians to lower train ticket prices.

As part of the action, campaigners will visit 40 key commuter stations, including Oxford, to ask passengers to sign a petition.

The cost of an annual standard class season ticket from Oxford to London will rise from £4,104 this year to £4,436.42 next year. It is forecast to rise to £5,268.31 by 2015.

Commuter group OxRail Action has also called for the price hikes to be reviewed.

Spokesman Stanley Skoglund said: “We’re not happy with automatic increases. The prices are absolutely horrendous and the service isn’t really anything to write home about.

“We would expect First Great Western to provide value for money and we don’t feel that’s always the case.”

Fair Fares Now highlighted the problem of spiralling rail prices by claiming it would cost Transport Secretary Phillip Hammond twice as much to travel from his home in Surrey to Westminster by train as by car, despite producing four times less carbon emissions.

Fair Fares Now spokesman Alexandra Woodsworth said: “It’s still often cheaper to drive than to take the train.

“Unprecedented fare hikes next January will deal a further blow to rail commuters and others who rely on public transport.

“With inflation running so high and living costs soaring across the board, it’s time for the Government to re-think further punitive fare increases and make sure train travel is affordable and accessible.”

The Office of Budget Responsibility predicts wages and inflation to rise by 2.2 per cent next year. But regulated rail fares in England and Wales will rise by eight per cent.

A spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies said: “We understand that these are tough times for many people, but the Government has decided that taxpayers should pay less and passengers more towards the overall cost of the running of the railways.

“The Government is working with the rail industry to cut costs, but in the meantime it is allowing fares to rise to ensure that investment in extra trains, better stations and faster services can continue.”