The Government say prices must increase to fund improvements

Train companies and the government say the increases are necessary to pay for much needed improvements.

A rise of 4% - just above inflation - was expected but this will be much higher on some tickets.

Passenger watchdogs say the rises, which will see many commuters face the highest increase since privatisation, are "very disappointing".

Passengers are not happy with performance, they're not happy with the state of trains and they're not happy with the cost of their tickets Rail Passengers' Council

Until now most commuter fares have gone up by less than inflation as a way of compensating for poor service.

The Government says future rises have to be above inflation to raise money to make services better.

Passenger research

But the rail watchdog says on many lines passengers will have to pay out more before improvements have begun.

Caroline Jones, of the Rail Passengers' Council, told BBC News: "We've just done some research for passengers and said 'tell us what you're happy with and tell us what you're not happy with'.

"[There is a] very clear message coming back from that.

"They're not happy with performance, they're not happy with the state of trains and they're not happy with the cost of their tickets."

Some of the highest rises will take place on South Eastern Trains' lines where a London season ticket will increase by as much as 9%

And Virgin Cross Country standard tickets could rise by up to 9.5%.

A spokesman for Virgin said the increase was justified because of better trains and services.

Back in October the government reacted cautiously to rail regulator Tom Winsor's calls for an extra �8bn to fix the UK's railways, saying any fresh public money must be spent efficiently.

Mr Tom Winsor's draft review of the network's finances concluded a further �8bn was needed over five years for urgent track upgrades.

The government is expected to decide whether to approve that funding increase after Mr Winsor's final report is published later this month.