People of Yorkshire and Derbyshire comment on the 'disgraceful' recent rise in train fares – and you may also be affected

The 2.7 per cent average increase on January 2 is down slightly on last year’s rise of 3.1 per cent, but will still see commuters shelling out hundreds of pounds more for rail transport in the UK in 2020.

One of the areas that has been hit the most is the north of England, with many of the people choosing to use public transport aggrieved by the decision to raise prices once again.

Train-users are also arguing that the rise in costs do not parallel the reliability or efficiency of services offered, particularly in relation to Northern and TransPennine, two of the biggest operators in Sheffield.

Ian Vardy, aged 56 from Swinton, said: "I think it's a disgrace, the fares shouldn't be going up – I think that they should be discouraging people from using cars and using public transport instead.

"The unreliability of the trains in the last 18 months has been pretty appalling.”

In relation to services in the Sheffield area, The Office of Rail and Road figures showed that only 55.6 per cent of Northern trains arrived on time, or within a minute of expected arrival, in the past year.

Northern services will rise by an average of 2.5 per cent, but TransPennine did not provide an exact figure.

Ian added: "I travel a lot, probably three or four times a week, and I have a train pass but obviously that still increases with the fare rise."

Season ticket holders could also see their annual cost of travel rise by over £100, with no assurance on the effectiveness of relevant services.

Maureen Moore, aged 70 from Sheffield said: "I think it's poor, I don't mind the increase as long as you are getting a quality service but so far there have been too many cancellations."

Not everybody has seen direct impact from the increased charges, however.

Callum Oldfield, aged 22 from Kettering said: "Mine has only gone up by 80 pence but for commuters who have to splash out a lot of money it could be a problem."

The trend also seemed to be slightly bucked at Chesterfield station.

Louise Hamed, a 19 year old student living in Derby, said: “I don’t really notice the fare hikes because I’ve been using Trainline and it’s been surprisingly low recently.

“I have been able to get trains to Derby where I am at uni for only two or three pounds”

Her friend, Courtney, also 19 and from Chesterfield, added: “I’ve got a railcard and the prices seem to be pretty decent at the moment.

“I don’t know about long distances though because I haven’t been away for a while.”

People also took to Twitter to share their dissatisfaction.

The news comes about at the same time that Germany has announced cuts of around 10 per cent to their rail fees to encourage travellers to pick public transport over the car in an effort to improve the environmental impact of travel.