Publicly owned East Coast has set the bar for its money-grabbing private competitors by becoming the first train operator to announce price freezes and below-inflation rises on 2014 fares.

East Coast is the first rail route to announce its 2014 prices, revealing a freeze on over half its tickets to and from London and below-inflation rises on other routes.

The company - which has been run in the public sector for the last four years - operates services from London up the east side of England to Scotland, with about 60 per cent of the services starting or finishing at London's King's Cross station.

East Coast managing director Karen Boswell said: "We're freezing fares to help our customers and encourage more people to travel with us. This will help us to continue to grow our business and to give back even more to the taxpayer.

"This is a straightforward commercial decision which is very good news for our customers and businesses across our route.

"When you take into account the rate of inflation, today's announcement represents a genuine real-terms cut in our overall fares."

The company said that its overall average rise for all fares from January 2 2014 was 1.21 per cent, with unregulated fares - which include off-peak fares and advanced-purchased tickets for leisure travellers - going up by an average of 0.83 per cent.

Its regulated fares, which include season tickets, are rising by the recently agreed 3.1 per cent average which is in line with the July 2013 RPI inflation rate on which the January 2014 national rises are based.

Transport union TSSA leader Manuel Cortes said: "This should be a benchmark for the rest of the industry. If the East Coast can do it, then so can Virgin's Sir Richard Branson and other firms who have made massive profits down the years from ripping off passengers."