A COUPLE has slammed an increase of more than 50 per cent in the cost of a train ticket from Hereford to London.

Heather and Tim Darwall-Smith have been catching the train from rural Herefordshire to the country's capital for the last four years.

Mr Darwall-Smith has always paid £54.50 for an off-peak train from Hereford at 6.42am on a Monday or Tuesday morning and return journey at 5.22pm either on Thursday or Friday.

But he was amazed to discover that the cost of his ticket had increased to £88 when he went to travel last week.

His wife, Mrs Darwall-Smith, said: "He had no idea this was coming. He travels every week and it completely came from out of the blue.

"He was absolutely furious. Everyone was asking the guard on the train. It was relentless, person after person asking 'why has this price gone up so much?'

"I think it's just another nail in the coffin isn't it. We are moving from Hereford to Oxfordshire and there are a number of reasons for that but this doesn't help. It is cheaper to drive to London than to get the train now."

In a statement, First Great Western, said anytime fares were not changing and four evening trains that were classed as 'off peak' are now classed as 'peak'.

"The sale of thousands of low-cost advance purchase fares, following requests from customers and stakeholders alike, will also introduce peak time fares for the first time – bringing the North Cotswolds in line with all other routes across the Great Western network," the statement said.

"As a result of these changes, from May 17, the cheapest single fare on this line will drop from £27 to £10. Advance Purchase tickets will be made available on all services - as with all other long distance journeys (beyond Didcot Parkway and Pewsey from London Paddington) on the Great Western network."