CATCHING a train to Manchester via the Metrolink will cost Knutsford commuters and shoppers more than double the Government’s recommended rise.

The peak return fare to the city has risen from £8.20 to £9.20 – a 12.2 per cent rise, while an off-peak return has risen 13.2 per cent to £6.

These rises only apply if you leave the train at Altrincham and use the Transport for Greater Manchester-operated Metrolink to get you the rest of the way to Manchester.

The smallest increase is a 20p rise to the £4 Knutsford to Altrincham Off Peak Day Return, which equates to a 5 per cent increase.

In his Autumn statement in October 2011, Chancellor – and Tatton MP – George Osborne capped fare increases at 5.9 per cent, instead of the expected 8 per cent.

The increase of 5.9 per cent applies to both regulated and unregulated fares but the fact it is an average means some fares were to rise by more than this figure and some will rise by less.

The fare increase took effect from Monday, January 2.

John Oates, chairman of the Mid Cheshire Rail Users Association, said the trains were still value for money compared to the cost of motoring.

“This is continuing a policy started a few years ago by the previous government which aimed to get to the stage where the railway is paid by 75 per cent of the users rather than 50 per cent which it used to be,” he said.

“The Metrolink fares are set by the TfGM so they are not in line with the National Rail prices.

“They are going up but bearing in mind the cost of motoring and car parking in Manchester and Chester, the queues in the sales and the fare deals like the duos where you buy one ticket and then get the other half price the train is much better value. Of course that is why they are getting busier and busier.

“There is an upside to everything but it is a shame they are going up, which we could all do without of course.”

In December, Maria Eagle, shadow transport secretary, said many commuters were facing a ‘fares fiddle’ due to the government's decision to allow train companies to average out the revised fare cap across a range of tickets.

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