By . Ray Massey, Transport Editor . PUBLISHED: . 19:01 EST, 1 January 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 19:24 EST, 2 January 2013 . A minister yesterday outraged train passengers by insisting that despite overcrowding, disruption and inflationary fare rises they are getting a ‘premium service’. On the day rail travellers were hit with their tenth above-inflation annual fare price rise in as many years, transport minister Norman Baker insisted: ‘We’re not doing too bad.’ Rises have averaged nearly 4 per cent, but Mr Baker said fares were not overly expensive when off-peak tickets – and not just the most costly rush-hour ones – were taken into account. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Fair fares? Passengers arrive at Kings Cross station today as New Year rail fares increases kick in and new research reveals prices have almost doubled in the past decade . Rail minister Norman Baker admitted the fares system is 'not ideal' but insisted tickets were not as expensive as some suggest . He even claimed that punctuality on . Britain’s trains, which was recently shown to be far worse than thought, . ‘was better than in Germany at the moment’. A Transport Department spokesman later . admitted the minister had no figures to substantiate his claim – which . had come from ‘an anecdote he heard at a conference last year’. The controversy erupted as the New . Year return to work got underway with commuters enduring ‘cattle class’ conditions and facing higher fares. Regulated fares, which include season . tickets, are increasing by up to 6.4 per cent for 2013, with an average . rise across all tickets of 3.9 per cent. On some routes, the price of a . season ticket has now risen by more than 70 per cent in a decade. The price rises follow the misery . experienced by millions of passengers over Christmas and New Year. The . period was dominated by delays, disruption, over-running engineering . works and pleas by rail bosses for passengers not to travel ‘unless . absolutely necessary’. Last night passengers and critics said . Mr Baker’s comments were ‘astonishing’ and accused the Lib Dem minister . and the Coalition of being ‘out of touch’. Stephen Joseph, of the Campaign for . Better Transport, said: ‘To suggest passengers are enjoying a premium . service is  astonishing. 'Many commuters are enduring cattle class . conditions on some of these lines and that is anything but a premium . product – even for cattle.’ Bruce Williamson, of the campaign . group Railfuture, said: ‘Enough is enough. They’re out of touch. Fares . have risen with no perceptible improvement in service. 'Our fares are the . highest in Europe. But we don’t have the best rail service in Europe. Most people don’t choose to travel at peak times – they are forced to do . so to get to work on time.’ Mr Baker accepted the above-inflation . rises were ‘not ideal’ and wanted to end them as soon as possible, but . did not put a timescale on it. He added: ‘You could argue people who . are travelling in the rush hour are using the premium product and ought . to pay something which reflects that.’ Passenger protest: Shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle joins TSSA General Secretary, Manuel Cortes and other rail campaigners during a demonstration against fair rises outside St Pancras station in London . He also insisted that ‘given the . stresses and strains we’re not doing too bad’. His praise for the . network is all the more extraordinary because his department has . recently delivered damning statistics on lateness and overcrowding on . trains. Last month First Great Western’s . 7.44am Henley-on-Thames to Paddington service was named as the most . overcrowded in England and Wales, with 80 per cent more passengers than . it was built to carry in comfort. Other figures showed that the . worst-performing train companies are running fewer than half their . services on time. UK passengers pay some of the most . expensive fares in Europe. Based on rush-hour prices for those who do . not pre-book, a British traveller can go an average of 133 miles for . £100, against 188 miles in Norway for the same money, 312 in Spain and . Germany, 365 in Wales and Scotland, 558 in France and 736 in Italy. The policy of annual above-inflation . fare rises is intended to switch more of the burden of paying for the . railways away from the taxpayer and towards the fare-payer. Mr Baker said: ‘We’ve inherited a . policy from the last government – the only difference between us and . them is that we’ve embarked on the biggest investment programme since . the 19th century.’ He accepted that ‘walk-on fares’ – not . booked in advance – can be among the most expensive in Europe. But he . argued: ‘Once you take the basket of fares, include early advance and . off peaks, we are not nearly as expensive as is being presented.’ All rail fares go up by an average of 3.9 per cent today but some will increase by as much as 10 per cent . ROUTE . OPERATOR                  TICKET                   FARE . RISE               % RISE . Birmingham-London        Chiltern                       Off-peak return       £25 to £27.50           up 10% . London-Norwich             Greater Anglia            Anytime return       £98.60 to £107.70       up 9.2% . London-Plymouth          First Great Western     Off-peak return       £103 to £111.50        up 8.3%*Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) says ‘average’ fare rise for ALL fares: up 3.9% .
Average 3.9% increase this year but some go up by as much as 10% .
New research reveals ten years of 'appalling and shocking' hikes .
Millions have seen fares increase by 50% or more since 2003 .
New Year commute blighted by delays and cancellations .
By . Ray Massey, Transport Editor . PUBLISHED: . 19:01 EST, 1 January 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 19:24 EST, 2 January 2013 . A minister yesterday outraged train passengers by insisting that despite overcrowding, disruption and inflationary fare rises they are getting a ‘premium service’. On the day rail travellers were hit with their tenth above-inflation annual fare price rise in as many years, transport minister Norman Baker insisted: ‘We’re not doing too bad.’ Rises have averaged nearly 4 per cent, but Mr Baker said fares were not overly expensive when off-peak tickets – and not just the most costly rush-hour ones – were taken into account. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Fair fares? Passengers arrive at Kings Cross station today as New Year rail fares increases kick in and new research reveals prices have almost doubled in the past decade . Rail minister Norman Baker admitted the fares system is 'not ideal' but insisted tickets were not as expensive as some suggest . He even claimed that punctuality on . Britain’s trains, which was recently shown to be far worse than thought, . ‘was better than in Germany at the moment’. A Transport Department spokesman later . admitted the minister had no figures to substantiate his claim – which . had come from ‘an anecdote he heard at a conference last year’. The controversy erupted as the New . Year return to work got underway with commuters enduring ‘cattle class’ conditions and facing higher fares. Regulated fares, which include season . tickets, are increasing by up to 6.4 per cent for 2013, with an average . rise across all tickets of 3.9 per cent. On some routes, the price of a . season ticket has now risen by more than 70 per cent in a decade. The price rises follow the misery . experienced by millions of passengers over Christmas and New Year. The . period was dominated by delays, disruption, over-running engineering . works and pleas by rail bosses for passengers not to travel ‘unless . absolutely necessary’. Last night passengers and critics said . Mr Baker’s comments were ‘astonishing’ and accused the Lib Dem minister . and the Coalition of being ‘out of touch’. Stephen Joseph, of the Campaign for . Better Transport, said: ‘To suggest passengers are enjoying a premium . service is  astonishing. 'Many commuters are enduring cattle class . conditions on some of these lines and that is anything but a premium . product – even for cattle.’ Bruce Williamson, of the campaign . group Railfuture, said: ‘Enough is enough. They’re out of touch. Fares . have risen with no perceptible improvement in service. 'Our fares are the . highest in Europe. But we don’t have the best rail service in Europe. Most people don’t choose to travel at peak times – they are forced to do . so to get to work on time.’ Mr Baker accepted the above-inflation . rises were ‘not ideal’ and wanted to end them as soon as possible, but . did not put a timescale on it. He added: ‘You could argue people who . are travelling in the rush hour are using the premium product and ought . to pay something which reflects that.’ Passenger protest: Shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle joins TSSA General Secretary, Manuel Cortes and other rail campaigners during a demonstration against fair rises outside St Pancras station in London . He also insisted that ‘given the . stresses and strains we’re not doing too bad’. His praise for the . network is all the more extraordinary because his department has . recently delivered damning statistics on lateness and overcrowding on . trains. Last month First Great Western’s . 7.44am Henley-on-Thames to Paddington service was named as the most . overcrowded in England and Wales, with 80 per cent more passengers than . it was built to carry in comfort. Other figures showed that the . worst-performing train companies are running fewer than half their . services on time. UK passengers pay some of the most . expensive fares in Europe. Based on rush-hour prices for those who do . not pre-book, a British traveller can go an average of 133 miles for . £100, against 188 miles in Norway for the same money, 312 in Spain and . Germany, 365 in Wales and Scotland, 558 in France and 736 in Italy. The policy of annual above-inflation . fare rises is intended to switch more of the burden of paying for the . railways away from the taxpayer and towards the fare-payer. Mr Baker said: ‘We’ve inherited a . policy from the last government – the only difference between us and . them is that we’ve embarked on the biggest investment programme since . the 19th century.’ He accepted that ‘walk-on fares’ – not . booked in advance – can be among the most expensive in Europe. But he . argued: ‘Once you take the basket of fares, include early advance and . off peaks, we are not nearly as expensive as is being presented.’ All rail fares go up by an average of 3.9 per cent today but some will increase by as much as 10 per cent . ROUTE . OPERATOR TICKET                   FARE . RISE               % RISE . Birmingham-London Chiltern                       Off-peak return       £25 to £27.50           up 10% . London-Norwich             Greater Anglia            Anytime return       £98.60 to £107.70       up 9.2% . London-Plymouth First Great Western     Off-peak return £103 to £111.50        up 8.3%*Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) says ‘average’ fare rise for ALL fares: up 3.9% .
Cross station today as New Year rail fares increases kick in and new research reveals prices dominated by delays, disruption, over-running presented.’ All rail fares go up by an average of 3.9 per cent today but some will increase by as much as 10 per cent . ROUTE .