Happy New Year – our rail fares are the highest in Europe

Amid the cacophony of moaning and groaning accompanying this week’s nationwide return to work was an eye-catching headline from satirical site The Daily Mash: ‘So we meet again, Southern tells commuters’. As someone who used to brave the Northern line on a daily basis, I can imagine the impending sense of doom felt by thousands of Southern customers as January 3 edged ever closer. Months of disruption thanks to staff shortages, industrial action and, if social media is to be believed, complete ineptitude on the part of the train operator, is enough to give anyone a New Year hangover. And now, what fresh hell is this? More strikes on the horizon, more cancelled services and more people crying on the inside as they wait for their train into work. To add insult to injury, salt to the wound and fuel to the flames (insert your own cliché/platitude here), higher rail fares came into effect on Monday, with passengers across Britain facing an average rise of 2.3