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Monday 12 September 2016 9:43 am

Here’s how much of your pay goes on commuting

By: Lynsey Barber

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Thought you were angry about your commute already? Brace yourself…

Cancellations and delays, leaves on the track or too much heat, the increasing cost of tickets and jam-packed sardine tin-like trains – there's already such an array of choice when it comes to commuting complaints.

Here's another one to add to the list.

A tenth of your hard earned cash is going toward your train ticket, on average, new figures calculated by a BBC investigation reveal.

That's even with a yearly season ticket, which is cheaper than paying for daily or weekly travel, and applies to people in full-time employment.

Read more: Commuting is even worse for your health and happiness than you thought

The most common commuter services into six major cities – not just London – were analysed and compared to the average salary in each of those cities as part of the investigation. It also took into account holidays and weekends.

That works out as 10 per cent of the average worker's salary – and that's even before the 1.6 per cent rise on ticket prices which is due to come in to play from the start of next year.

Some people commuting into the capital are spending an even greater share of their hard earned cash on tickets, however. Data made available from the analysis shows one journey costing 20 per cent of net pay and a further 40 eating into a larger share of salary than the average 10 per cent.

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Read more: Southern discomfort: Train service's punctuality plunges to 70 per cent

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