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A rail passenger was said to have 'almost fainted' after being presented with a £1,048 bill by ticket inspectors after mistakenly boarding the wrong train.

The unnamed man, thought to be in his 40s, had been travelling from Birmingham New Street station to London Euston with a group of 38 family and friends.

The group had bought tickets that only permitted them to travel on London Midland services.

The man was travelling from Birmingham New Street to London Euston with a group of 38 family and friends

However, each member of the party unwittingly boarded a faster Virgin Trains service when they arrived on the platform.

The mistake was spotted by ticket inspectors shortly after the 10.30am service had left Birmingham and was pulling in to Coventry station.

It was then that they were told that their tickets were not valid, and that they would have to purchase new tickets for the entire 1hr 25min journey.

They were told that the cost for the group to travel to the next stop - 100 miles away in Watford – would cost them a total of £800, while the price of completing their journey to London would be more than £1,000.

The group were only permitted to travel on a London Midlands service from Birmingham to London Euston

They group each paid up after being told that they would face a large fine if they didn't buy the correct tickets.

To make matters worse, they have since been told that had they booked in advance and taken advantage of Virgin's offers for groups, they would have paid of maximum of less than £300 for the entire party – more than £700 cheaper than what they eventually paid.

A fellow passenger told the Birmingham Mail: 'It was a pretty heart-stopping moment.

'He looked a little faint and I'm not surprised really, I mean, it's such a lot of money.

The party have since been told that had they booked in advance and taken advantage of Virgin's offers for groups, they would have paid of maximum of less than £300 – £700 cheaper than what they eventually paid

'The inspector was very matter of fact about it all and I understand he was doing his job – but it was an honest mistake.

'I think allowances should be made when it does look like a genuine error.'

The inspector told the party that he had clearly announced on board that tickets for any other operator would not be accepted on board the Virgin Trains Service.

London Midland charges between £6 and £70 for a single adult ticket from Birmingham New Street to London Euston during weekdays, while Virgin Trains charges between £20 to £82 for an adult. 

The cost depends on whether passengers travel in standard class or first class.

Virgin Trains states that it issues Unpaid Fare Notices (UFNs) to customers travelling without valid tickets who are unable to pay at the time.

A spokesman for the operator said: 'If people are travelling in large groups we encourage them to make the most of our group offers; on our Birmingham to London route, fares would start at £7.50 for an adult single fare.

'That would mean all 39 could have travelled for a maximum price of less than £300. 

'We run three trains an hour between Birmingham and London Euston, with journey times of 1 hour 25 minutes.

'Unfortunately, if passengers have booked to travel with another operator their tickets are not valid on Virgin Trains' services.'