Britain's rail passengers will see a 1.1% rise in average fares from 2 January, 2016, the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) has announced.

The RDG, which represents train operators and Network Rail, said it was the smallest annual rise for six years.

Regulated fares, which include season tickets, are capped at no more than July's RPI inflation rate of 1%.

Unregulated fares, such as off-peak leisure tickets, can go up by as much as the train companies like.

RDG chief Paul Plummer said: "We know that nobody likes to pay more to travel by train, especially to get to work."

But he added that money from fares now almost covers rail's daily operating costs.

"This allows government to focus its funding on building a bigger, better network when the railway is becoming increasingly important at driving economic growth, underpinning jobs, and connecting friends and families," Mr Plummer said.

Under government rules, the rise in regulated fares was restricted to no more than the Retail Prices Index measure of inflation over the year to July, which was 1%. Over the long term, RPI has tended to record higher inflation than the other measure of rising prices, the Consumer Price Index, which was 0.1% during the year.

The increases cover fares in England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland is treated separately.

Source: BBC News