THE man in charge of the county’s main train service has revealed his £400m personal fortune – just days after rail users were told to brace themselves for huge fare hikes.

Passengers have condemned the sky high rises as “a joke” and “disgraceful” after learning the worth of business tycooon and South West Trains boss Brian Souter, who has seen the value of his investments soar by 41 per cent in just three years.

The revelation came yesterday as train users are facing up to ten per cent hike in fares over the next four years.

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Souter, founder of Stagecoach and son of a bus driver, believes some of the investments have still to “really spark in value”.

Family-owned Souter Investments has a 14 per cent stake in Stagecoach,which runs South West Trains, as well as undisclosed stakes in a number of other firms, including insurance business esure and price comparison site gocompare. Stagecoach, the bus and rail operator set up by Mr Souter and his sister Ann Gloag, makes up 50 per cent of the firm, and the remainder of the portfolio includes financial services, healthcare and biofuels, and stretches from Scotland to New Zealand.

Mr Souter, who is Stagecoach chief executive, said the vast majority of his investments have thrived despite the economic downturn and have grown from a value of £250m in 2007 to £400m today. The strong growth reflected the performance of Stagecoach, which was listed on the stock exchange in 1993 and has delivered a total shareholder return of 121 per cent over the last five financial years.

Mr Souter said: “Like many entrepreneurs, I have historically been discreet about my family’s investment portfolio.

“However, given the extent of the portfolio and an increasing level of public interest, I have decided that, going forward, we should produce a report on activities on a regular basis.”

The companies in his portfolio have a combined turnover of £1.3 billion and employ nearly 7,000 staff, he said. They include bus and coach manufacturer Alexander Dennis and Dorset luxury yacht builder Sunseeker International.

Denis Fryer, coordinator for South Hampshire Rail Users Group, said: “Railways are supposed to be a public service, but they are privately operated.

“Here we have a private operator making a huge fortune while rail users’ fares are soaring – that seems to me to be a funny public service. It’s just completely unfair.”