THE cost of daily travel on trains will go up today for people across the UK.

The latest rise in season ticket prices comes as more calls are made to renationalise thee railway after yet another year of frustration and delays for passengers.

It was reported that one in seven trains were delayed across the UK by at least five minutes in the last 12 months, making it the worst yearly performance since September 2005.

Fare have got up by an average of 3.1 per cent but, in a small silver lining for Welsh passengers, Transport for Wales fares on its network have only risen by 2.98 per cent on average.

This is how much a selection of regular weekly and yearly season tickets will cost from today:

Newport to Cardiff Central

One week: £20.50

One Year: £820

Ebbw Vale Town to Cardiff Central

One week: £29.40

One year: £1,176

Chepstow to Newport

One week: £33.80

One year: £1,352

Chepstow to Bristol Temple Meads

One week: £49.70

One year: £1,988

Caerphilly to Cardiff Central

One week: £25.20

One year: £1,008

Cwmbran to Newport

One week: £21.60

One year: £864

Newport to Bristol Temple Meads

One week: £67.40

One year: £2,696

Pontypool and New Inn to Newport

One week: 25.30

One year: £1,012

Abergavenny to Cardiff Central

One week: £63.50

One year: £2,540

(For more season ticket calculations, visit the National Rail website.)

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling blamed trade unions for the price hikes.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The reality is the fare increases are higher than they should be because the unions demand - with threats of national strikes, but they don't get them - higher pay rises than anybody else.

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"Typical pay rises are more than three per cent and that's what drives the increases.

"These are the same unions that fund the Labour Party."

But the rail industry insists the "vast majority" of revenue from fares covers the day-to-day costs of running the network.

The increase in average rail fares has been met with frustration by passenger groups and opposition political parties.

Darren Shirley, chief executive of the Campaign for Better Transport, said passengers "suffered atrocious service in 2018".

He added the latest fare increase will "only add to their misery".

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Mr Shirley continued: "The Government's decision to press ahead with this fare rise despite a year of delays, cancellations and overcrowding shows a total disregard for passengers and may leave many wondering what they are paying for.

"The review of the railways currently under way must prioritise passengers' needs and recommend a fundamental reform of the fares system and how fares are set."

Bruce Williamson, of campaign group Railfuture, claimed passengers are being given "another kick in the wallet" following a "terrible year" on the railway.

He said: "Since 2004, rail fares have raced ahead of people's incomes whilst the cost of motoring has remained static, partly thanks to the Government's continuing freeze on fuel duty.

"Petrol is now cheaper than it was in 2011, when the last fuel duty increase kicked in.

"In that time, rail fares have gone up 28%. Are they trying to drive us off the railways?

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"Why are hard-working commuters being punished for the 'crime' of trying to get the train to work? It really is war against the train passenger."

Labour's shadow transport secretary, Andy McDonald, said the franchise system used to run Britain's railways appears to be "completely broken" and has created a "farcical situation" that sees profits leak away to other countries - even paying for their own rail networks.

"We need to take these costs and this waste out of the system," he told ITV's Good Morning Britain.

"The franchising system seems to be... completely broken. It's very costly to run (with) additional costs incurred of many, many players being involved in the railway industry with the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.

"And then of course the profits and the dividends are leaking out the system - often to state-owned and controlled railways across continental Europe going back to subsidise their railways.

"This is a farcical situation where we're the only country in the world that can't run our own railways and we, as an incoming government, would change that immediately."