A DOUBLE dose of New Year cheer is to be handed to North Yorkshire rail passengers as rail companies freeze prices and hand out discounted fares.

York-based train operator GNER decided it would be "inappropriate" to bring in a price rise in January despite authorisation from the Strategic Rail Authority for a 3.3 per cent hike, with Virgin also choosing to freeze prices.

And there was a further boost for commuters as national rail operators today announced compensation for passengers worth £20 million to compensate for the delays resulting from speed restrictions in the wake of the Hatfield crash.

"In the face of the adversity rail users have faced it would be inappropriate for an increase in fares," said GNER spokesman Alan Hyde.

"We hope this price freeze coupled with a range of discounts and promotions in the first quarter of next year will provide some New Year cheer for rail users after all the disruption."

He said the price rise may come into effect later in the year.

Virgin has also decided to freeze prices, feeling it would be "not right to increase prices".

Northern Spirit, which operates the Transpennine service, is to raise prices in January by an average of 2.3 per cent across its network.

GNER is launching Operation Springboard in the first three months of next year to try to win back travellers.

"We are re-launching our service," said Mr Hyde.

"There will be a range of discounted fares and promotions designed to get our passengers back once we are running a full service again."

He added that journey times were already beginning to return to their pre-Hatfield levels and journeys would speed up again in January.

"We expect peak travel to return to normal frequency of service in mid-January," he said.

"And we will return to full service towards Easter."

Under the terms of the compensation package, passengers will receive either compensation days or discounts when renewing their season tickets.

Passengers with weekly or daily tickets who have experienced significant delays are already entitled to refunds for disrupted journeys through each train operating company's Passengers' Charter.

They should contact their train operator using a compensation form or by letter, enclosing proof of travel and details of the journey and delay experienced, as required.