RAIL unions slammed David Cameron’s election promise to freeze train fares yesterday as a “con” and called for an end to the rail privatisation rip-off.

The Prime Minister said extending the RPI inflation cap on regulated ticket prices for another five years would save the average commuter hundreds of pounds.

But train drivers union Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said: “The devil, with David Cameron, is always in the detail” and pointed out fares will still rise with inflation.

“That’s a rise the poorest people in Britain can ill afford,” he said.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash added: “This latest stunt would still mean annual fare increases that would institutionalise the harsh reality that the British passenger pays the highest fares in Europe to travel on rammed-out and unreliable trains.

“The only solution is to end the rip-off of rail privatisation which would allow us to free up the hundreds of millions of pounds drained off in profits to invest in services and cut fares.”