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Off-peak rail fares are "higher in the UK than anywhere else in Europe", the Liberal Democrats have claimed.
The party has published research looking at 'anytime' single rail fares in Europe and found that in Britain, £10 buys an average of 26 miles by train.
But in countries such as Serbia, £10 provides 512 miles of rail travel.
The Lib Dems added that an off-peak return ticket in the UK only buys 56 miles of rail travel per £10.
This would make it more expensive to buy an off-peak return than a single ticket in more than half of European countries.
Lib Dem transport spokesman Norman Baker claimed that their research proved that rail passengers were being "ripped off".
"Nowhere else in Europe are passengers taken advantage of in this way," he said.
"In Serbia, £10 will take you almost the distance between London and the Swiss Alps while an English ticket will take you only as far as Basildon."
He went on: "It seems ministers don't give a damn about rail passengers, with inflation-busting fare rises that will force some travellers to swap the train for the car and every indication that this will only get worse.
"The government has got transport policy upside down, with more polluting forms of travel regularly cheaper than more environmentally-friendly alternatives."
Baker added: that ministers "are putting a huge amount of effort into forcing through an environmentally disastrous third runway at Heathrow while ignoring the plight of rail passengers".
But a spokesman for the Association of Train Operating Companies claimed that the research was "selective and simplistic".
"Their research fails to take into account the hugely varying cost of living, average wages and national railway subsidy levels when comparing fares in European countries," he claimed.
"If a balanced view of rail fares in Britain was given, the Liberals would also highlight that we have some of the cheapest fares in Europe. The claim that Britain has some of the most expensive off-peak fares does not hold true."
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd