PROTESTERS gathered at Bolton train station to campaign against rises in rail fares.

Members of Smithills branch Labour Party handed out more than 1,000 leaflets calling for the renationalisation of the railways and a reduction in prices.

An average 2.3 per cent increase in the cost of train tickets came into effect for passengers in England, Scotland and Wales on January 2.

The overall rise is the highest since January 2014, when fares increased by 2.8 per cent.

Demonstrator Ian Coulthard, from Smithills, said: “The leaflets have been flying out. People have been snatching them out of our hands.The fact is people are rammed on to these trains. You are paying for a ticket and then sitting in the toilet cubicle because there are no seats. And some of the carriages are 30 to 40 years-old.

“These commuters pay good money, hard earned money,and Bolton is typically a low wage economy. People are having to pay a lot of money out on a service that is not improving.”

Eight members of the Smithills Labour Party joined the Action For Rail campaign armed with 1100 leaflets.

The demonstrators approached commuters at the morning rush hour from 7am until 9am and also came back at 6pm.

A commuter who works in Bolton and travels from Manchester Victoria on the train saw the price of his monthly rail ticket go up by £3.

The 22-year-old, who did not want to be named, said: “It is too much. It is going up but nothing is changing, I am not getting a better service. My train actually gets in later by five or six minutes now.”

Mr Coulthard added: “We passed a motion with the Smithills branch Labour Party to support any future campaigns which we intend to do. The majority of people want to renationalise the railways. It is all about people putting pressure on the government. We did this last year as well and we got a good response.”

The Day of Action campaign – against the rise in rail fares – was held across the country.