Commuters travelling between Woking and London could face an increase of more than £300 in rail fares next year, according to new figures released today.

The data, published on 20 August, shows that regulated rail fares are set to rise by up to 6 per cent in 2026-27 if the government maintains its policy of linking increases to July’s Retail Price Index.

A season ticket on the Woking to London route, currently £5,406, would rise by £313.55 to £5,719.55.

Will Forster, Liberal Democrat MP for Woking and chair of the South Western Railway All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), has called for fares to be frozen. He said the rise comes at a time when passengers are already dealing with frequent disruption.

Mr Forster recently wrote to Sir Andrew Haines, chief executive of Network Rail, about repeated signalling failures, peak-time overcrowding and service disruption.

The APPG represents more than 60 constituencies along the route.

“The experience of travelling on SWR has become increasingly stressful, uncomfortable, and unreliable. Passengers rightly expect better. Now with these rail fare increases, people are getting an even worse deal,” Mr Forster said.

He added: “At a time of endless cancellations and a cost of living crisis, it is appalling that commuters are being asked to pay more and get less.

“What was chaos under the Conservatives has become out of touch complacency under Labour. We’re still being ripped off, but now with a different government.

“The Liberal Democrats are calling for a freeze on fares and a service people can actually rely on. Hiking prices now is a false economy that will only drive passengers away.

“I’ll be raising this directly with South Western Railway as Chair of the SWR APPG, so we can both put pressure on Labour over this ridiculous move in the cost of living crisis.”