UK train tickets go up by 3.2 percent from Jan 2019, although two new discounts for young people have been introduced.

British train prices are going up again, and a lot of commuters aren't feeling too happy about it. The Daily Mirror stated that the price increases were particularly unfair considering "punctuality is at a 13-year low, lines are overcrowded and rail shareholders are stuffing their pockets".

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn called the rise a "disgrace" and said this was exactly why he wanted to nationalise all the railways (i.e. put the government in charge of running them, rather than private companies).

But both the train companies and the government minister who oversees them say the criticisms are unfair. The counter argument is that only 2 percent of the money people pay for train tickets becomes profit (Apple, in contrast, has a profit margin of 38 percent).

That means almost everything people pay goes into things like maintaining tracks and paying train driver wages. And Chris Grayling, the Secretary of State for Transport, says the main reason fares have gone up is that train staff wanted higher wages and kept striking until they got them.

Two new railcards have been introduced to help make fares cheaper for some people. 16-17-year-olds will get half-price train tickets from September, and 26-30-year-olds will get a third off from today (16-25-year olds already get this discount).