Commuters face an unwelcome 3.2 per cent price hike in rail fares, which will add more than £110 to the cost of an annual season ticket to London, from Southend next year.

The price increase will also mean a more than £90 rise for commuters travelling in to London from Basildon.

The news comes after cancellations, chaos and delays across the rail network and a ten year record low for commuter satisfaction.

Labour MEP Alex Mayer has backed calls for the lower Consumer Prices Index (CPI), rather than the Retail Prices Index (RPI) to be used to set January rail fare rises.

Britain’s rail commuters will spend up to five times more of their income than their European counterparts as a result of January’s price hike.

Alex Mayer MEP said: "Give commuters a break. Surely after the chaos of the last few months, the Government should not be allowing fares to increase faster than many people's wages.

“This news is yet another smack in the face for hard working commuters who have been hit again and again by eye-watering rail fare rises.

"We need to be encouraging people onto trains not putting obstacles in the way.

“Labour would bring our railways into public ownership, this would mean capped fairs, more reliable services and more investment. It’s time to put passengers first, not profit and run our railways for the many, not the few.”