Chief executive Anthony Smith said they should not have to keep paying for a "fractured, inefficient industry".

The annual rise will see the average price of regulated fares, which include season tickets, increase by 6%.

ATOC (Association of Train Operating Companies) said money raised through fares helped pay for better services.

The average rise for all rail tickets - including unregulated fares such as advance and business tickets - is 5.9%.

However Passenger Focus has highlighted routes which have seen higher-than-average rises compared with January 2011. These include season tickets between:

Chester and Crewe - 10.6% increase

Llandudno and Bangor in Gwynedd - 10.6% increase

Port Talbot Parkway and Swansea - 8.7% increase

Northampton and London - 6.9% increase

The consumer group said some off-peak return fares between London and towns including Cardiff, Exeter and Plymouth had risen by more than 9%.

Anytime-return fare increases that were well above average - at more than 8% - include those between Birmingham and Edinburgh, and Bristol and Edinburgh, it added.

Anthony Smith said fare rises would make for a "frosty return to work" for passengers after the holiday period.

"Report after report - the government's own McNulty review into the rail industry's costs - show we have a very inefficient rail industry. The industry costs a lot to run. Those costs are being dumped on passengers, year after year, and we can't keep on doing this," he said.

Michael Roberts, chief executive of the ATOC, said money raised through fares helped pay for improved services.

"For a number of years, the government has sought to sustain investment in the railways by reducing what taxpayers contribute and increasing the share that is paid for by passengers," he said.

"The focus of the whole industry is to keep on reducing the overall cost of running the railways as a way of limiting future fare rises and providing taxpayers with better value for money."

ATOC said record amounts of money were being invested in better stations and more trains.

Currently, passengers contribute about £6.5bn to the running of the railways, with taxpayers picking up the remaining £4bn.

But Rail Minister Theresa Villiers said: "We have already limited the fare increase this year to help rail passengers.

Now questions are being asked about why it costs 30% more to run the railway in Britain than elsewhere in Europe.

The fare increases apply in England, Scotland and Wales.