“Passenger groups seek to end hikes” claimed a headline in the Times of 31 December.
They are not objecting to being forced to walk long distances as they seek to find a train which might take them to their destination. Or seeking to ban those annoying people with rucksacks & muddy boots from travelling on trains & buses. Just protesting – vocally & verbally – about steep rises in train fares.
The OED says that the use of hike to mean an increase in prices is chiefly North American, but they have quotations to show it used in that sense (by journalists) over here since the 1960s.
