Ok while i do not really think the rail fares are competative with the alternatives, the actual price increases are not as bad as they are made to sound, the actual yearly increase per the 2nd or 3rd line is 3.4% , it only seems high compared with the useless "official " rate of inflation of around 2 to 3% , if the "real " inflation rate was used then these rises would be nothing out of expectation.
that said perhaps privitisation that intrinsically led to monopoly needs to be admitted as a mistake and corrected.

Ben, folkestone, uk

If I want to travel between Manchester & London/Glasgow/Newcastle or the south coast, I fly..its a no-brainer. The rail network is a joke which I wont even consider in my travel plans.

Ian, Wigan, UK

i live in Switzerland - seen by many as horrendously expensive - BUT i can buy an annual ticket covering all forms of public transport accross the entire country for 2900 francs (abt £1200) which is considerably less than i could get an annual season ticket fm Guildford to London.... and if u dont like paying that much cash in advance for 200 francs a year one can by a half card which enables one to get a 50% rebate on buses , trains trams etc - This year i had to get a train fm Rugby to London and it cost me over £100 for a return ticket.. I was stunned - just over an hrs travel. Competition on the railways my giddy aunt - more like a theives cartel with the Govt at the top of the table..

Rees, Zurich,

If each railway franchisee is having their subsidy cut, what, precisely, will happen to the taxpayer's money 'saved' as a result?

Can we all look forward to, perhaps, a tax cut? I think we all know the answer to that one...

Incidentally, government ministers do occasionally travel by train - but only when accompanied by an entourage of flunkeys, and they always travel first class. At the taxpayer's expense, of course.

Phil, London,

Every time London house prices look like that are about to deflate, rural commuter train services to and from the capital are reduced. Is this a coincidence or an attempt to shoehorn workers back into the city?

Michael, Edinburgh, UK

Stop whining and start suing!!!
Legal action is the only way to prevent the contempt this govt and rail co's shows for the public.

The rail co's have to meet legal mandates. When rail co's ignore the law, SUE THEM!!! Rail co's know Brit's like to whine while they get richer and richer.

Pierre Stone, London,

From where I live in the Japan, you can get a Bullet train into Tokyo for about £44.00 return. Takes 70 minutes, makes two stops. Reserved seat for a nominal extra charge. So commuting is possible. And rural; we got bears, deer, boar, Arctic monkeys, racoon, poisonous snakes, active volcano. Only summer visitors have two-wheel-drive; when winter comes us locals switch to snow tyres on our SUVs.
The previous UK train ticket prices are a rip-off; the new prices are highway robbery. So fly the coop; you know you will eventually.

Andrew Milner, Karuizawa, Nagano

I can only echo Matt Burman's earlier comments. I moved (back) out to Sydney three years ago. I'm now commuting the 80 miles from home in the Southern Highlands of NSW to my office in Sydney and then back each day.

The trains here are comparable in shape and size to UK commuter trains, and are punctual, clean and reasonably frequent. It's a bit hilly here in Highland NSW (2,200ft up), so it's not a fast trip - 2hrs each way. But it's $A18 a day return (that's about GBP 7.50), and you can travel any time of the day on any train, you always get a seat, and it's only $A70 for a weekly. For OAPs, it's even better - they can buy a daily ticket for $A2.50 (GBP 1), that also gives them free bus and ferry travel in Sydney.

Obviously, NSW taxpayers subsidise these NSW services, but given the rate of UK subsidy, I wonder if the subsidies are not so very different?

Dunno. But after 10yrs of commuting experience from Lincolnshire to London back in the UK, I know which I prefer.

Richard, Bowral, Australia

i'm about to re-locate to Suffolk. i need access to London. with a current monthly ticket being £455 plus parking of £100 pcm. presuming fare rises mentioned above are correct, and station parking is increased at a similar rate, will i really have to give up around £13k of earned income to travel to and from work. well done Tony et al, back to the car for me!!!

Kevin, Leigh on Sea,

and it's not included in the CPI...

CWW , Suffolk,

Sadly the incompetence of ministers and their highly paid senior civil servant advisors yet again financially punishes those of us who have to work hard for even a moderate standard of living.

Maybe ministers should have to travel by tube and train rather than private vehicles when going about their "government" business and then they would see the true condition of the transport infrastructure for which ordinary people are expected to pay higher and higher prices. Cosseted and ushered around with deference - how can these individuals propose that they really can put in place policies that work in reality?

You can be sure that private taxis are also used to ferry government ministers and officials around in private life as well. This is not a rant at the "foot soldier" public servants who ensure that public services function within communities but those few individuals stuck in up their ivory towers!

Sue, Sussex, UK

"Not unbelievable - totally consistent with every other policy of our present government. Shaft the people, blame someone else. Say one thing but do the other." Hawken, Newquay, "This is just another lousy Labour stealth tax and they pretend to be concerned by road congestion!" John, Guildford, Surrey quot;One day, something that the government is involved in will make everybody happy, but that day isn't going to happen while this government is in power." Martin, Berks, England At least we've got 'Have Your Say' to let off steam about our elected Government. That way we can get it off our chests without actually having to do anything about it!

Rod Munch, Northampton, UK

I recently went from London to Leeds by rail at a cost of over forty pounds for a second class single ticket in a clapped out, filthy BR inter-city train dating from the 1970s or 1980s which the operator had simply repainted. The privatised rail system is worse than BR ever was and the only way it will ever improve is if it is taken back into state ownership. With the current state of the nation's finances this isn't likely to happen.

Mike, London,

My experience of New England is that there's barely a railway to ride on so that's an irrelevance, Mr Knight.

al , london,

I am about to take a 500 mile round trip from Cherbourg to Paris on SNCF for the equilivent if £28.

Ray.

Ray Nipper, Portbail, France

Train travel is far more expensive than travelling by car. Even if I buy a cheap day return with 30% rail card discount, it is STILL often cheaper to go by car.
The government needs to take different action on this if it is serious about environmental issues.

Deb Percy, Ramsgate, UK

How can the Government persue a policy of going green if it forces those trying to adopt the policy to price themselves out of the market place?
Perhaps one answer is for the private sector to hand back the railways to the government and concentrate on bio fuels, electric trams and high speed linear mono rails.

Charles Asbury, PENYCAE SWANSEA, Wales

Can somebody explain what it's all about.

I thought that it was a good idea to get people to use the train rather than drive but to do that you need reasonable train fares. If it costs £164 to go to Nottingham who in their right mind will use the train?

John, Hastings, England

And the government is trying to persuade us to use public transport? Not on your nelly! It's not just overpriced, it's also overcrowded, dirty and still years behind in terms of accessibility.

Al Lockhart Smith, London, UK

Why increase rail fares at all? Green taxes should at least go into green transport choices. Encourage people not to drive. Reduce train fares.
Train fares should be lowered by the government and green taxes pulled in to balance out the cost. What else are green taxes for anyway? Politicians pensions, perhaps?

Simon E. Bode, Bath, UK

By all means blame this government for their handling of the railways. But don't forget who it was who privatised them in the first place. The current state of our public transport system doesn't reflect well on Labour (New or otherwise) OR Conservative. The sight of Tory opposition spokesmen on television criticising Labour for the state of the railways is almost as amusing as the blustering of Labour spokesmen babbling on about what they are doing to sort it. (Or at least it would be if my ticket to get to work wasn't so expensive.) When on earth are we going to shake off the dogma that everything is better privatised? It's a blinkered view that is as damaging as the left's "get the state to do everything".

Charlie, London,

What the UK needs a Cheap, Fast and Energy Efficient alternative to Rail Travel. Why is this country not looking at investing in Magnetic Levitation to replace existing long-distance travel to relieve the overcrowding currently being experienced on today infrastructure? Newcastle to London in under an hour, and trains every quater hour is perfectly possible with today's technology...

Simon, Alton, Hampshire

Once again our governments appalling commitment to climate change is laid bare. To passenger focus, what would you attribute the growth in internal flights on budget airlines to,or the ever increasing volume of traffic on the roads. And lets not forget the people like myself who have no viable alternative other than a helicopter to get to the office. We should look abroad for examples of how to run our railways, and end the fiasco of price increases solely driven by shareholder returns and get the focus back on delivering a quality first world service that delivers fair value for money.

Matthew, london,

When are we going to have a prime minister who declares improving our transport to be among his top priorities?

Barry, Wallington, UK

I get the train from Leuchars to Manchester because I can't drive and the buses run at a time I cant travel and takes 10 hours. As a result my journey at the moment (with a railcard) costs from 30 pounds to 60 pounds. I do this every month. As a result train fares take up a good part of my student loan. I cant wait to pass my driving test. With the increase in fares its going to be cheaper to drive the journey, I can travel when I want and have a seat and it will take and hour to 2 hours less time. Is it any wonder we love our cars and hate public transport.

Samantha McFarlane, St Andrews,

The fare increases, while hard to absorb on a personal level, are necessary to counteract decades of underinvestment in the rail network. The present UK train network is vastly behind those on the continent and only more investment will begin to bridge the gap.

Having said that, I am furious that I am paying top money for third class service. Overcrowded, filthy trains for the rail users while the companies make profits on the rail contracts? What was the government thinking when they agreed to these contracts? Whose interest were they thinking of, beyond their revenue stream? Is that the purpose of government these days?

Janice K, Steeple Aston, UK

and the government wonder why people drive cars rather than use public transport...

if public transport was comfortable, not ridiculously overpriced and actually reliable, more people might actually choose to use it

sam, farnham, uk

The removal of subsidies is meant to make companies responsible to revenue ie if they put fares because of loss of subsidy this is not the government's fault. The train operators are private companies, if they can't make a profit unless they put fares up then they shouldn't be in business. Exactly why privatisation of transport doesn't work, it's not profitable. Partial subsidisation of a private enterprise is not full privatisation anyway.

Ms. Incredulous, London,

Or maybe the UK can't afford the railway we need so prices are being used to discourage us; fares from Swindon to London discourage me!

I have travelled on railways on railways on four continents. The UK railways companies seem to be one of the few that have to make large profits in terms of money.

Many other nations see the profit as social, the ability to move the population quickly and efficiently to their jobs, relatives, leisure pursuits. These activities also make money for the nation, and encourage more environmentally considerate travel.

Fare reduction encourages savings on road repairs, congestion costs and pollution (c.f. Ken Livingston & GLC) Oh my god! An integrated transport policy.

Donovan, Swindon,

I'm not surprised - as a student I have to travel into London near enough every day and a 12 minute journey in peak times costs like £12!! It's ridiculous. If it were cheaper, it would stop a lot of people complaining about the awful timing (there's no way it could possibly get worse). It'd be cheaper to drive into London and it would take near enough the same time too.

The other thing that bothers me is how each station chooses it's own fares - a single from one station to another is cheaper than a single from the second station to the first!

SK, Croydon,

The Duke of Wellington opposed railways because they would allow the "lower orders to wander aimlessly aroung the country" - I did not realise he was still in power. Seriously, the service is already so poor in some places as to deter train travel. If prices rise, passengers should assert themselves more in order to get a decent service.

Peter, Cardiff,

I went back to London last November to visit family and was shocked to see the price of rail travel in the U.K. I can honestly say that the price of rail travel in Japan in much cheaper, safer, and much more reliable. An average subway ticket within central Tokyo is about 210JPY which is about 1GBP. I hope the goverment takes action before the environment is damaged further and tourist's stop visiting our wonderful country as it's too expensive to expore.

Brit in Japan, Tokyo, Japan

The rail subsidies, road and aviation taxation should be dealt with in a joined-up way to encourage an efficient and economically viable transport network. Instead we just see increasing costs for those who need to work. In effect a pay cut courtesy of this Labour Government.

Steve Marchant, Torquay, Devon

Having waited for a train with yet another "technical problem", i just can't help but wonder where all the money they have exploited from us are going. Not to all those signals with failure obviously.Can you actually remember when was the last time your train was run alright?
They should realise it's not the money that is lacking, but it's the system itself that has the biggest problem.

Kay, Reading,

It's not really difficult to buy cheaper rail tickets if you shop around and book in advance. I can get from London to Birmingham for a fiver.

Anna, London,

The big mistake was to privatose the industry and to seperate the track from the rolling stock in the first place. Railways only properly work as an INTEGRATED product. We know who to thank for that don't we... the Conservatives. I accept that the service provided by BR was appalling BUT only because it had been starved of proper investment for decades. If (any) government is serious about getting people out of their cars and onto public transport, the WORST thing to do is to financially punish them for doing just that. I'm not a tree hugger. I use trains and have a car. For me, the choice is a three way balance between cost, reliability and time. I once took my two disabled children to London for an early morning appointment by train. Big mistake. Cost £50 with the journey being a total nightmare for me, the kids and the other commuters.Packed trains and tube don't make for happy children. Since then I have used the car. Just as quick, massively cheaper and a lot less hassle.

LH, Surrey, UK

But it's all part of an integrated transport policy. Introduce road-pricing to price us off the roads and onto rail. Raise train fares to price us off the rails and onto planes. Raise airport charges to price us off the planes and onto the road....erm, hang on...

I think George Harrison had it right - they'll be taxing feet next.

Taxman, northampton,

£164 to go to Nottingham? Cheaper to both fly to Paris and meet there!

How can the government approve this and at the same time want to force through road pricing? What are we meant to do, just stay at home?

Andy Barnes, Reading, UK

So how exactly is the government going to meet its inflation targets, if it keeps approving above inflation rises for its own services?

M Brown, reading,

Well it's priced me off the train and into a car.

I currently hold a young persons railcard; when that expires next year I will make no financial or time savings so I will be getting a car.

Kathryn Saunt, Preston, Lancs

The main problem is the addiction of people to moving between point A and point B, and organising their lives in terms of work, school, leisure etc so that much moving between said points, not to mention C,D,E, and beyond takes up an inordinate amount of their time. The key is de-centralisation, and local communities where self-contained facilities make regular, long distance travel unnecessary. Unfortunately, consolidation of businesses, retail outlets, and schools into ever larger units with an ever increasing mean distance from an individuals home only feed the necessity to travel and waste increasing amounts of time and fuel doing so.

tim, Malvern, UK

If this so called 'government' are going to allow fare increases on 'green transport' then it is only correct that they should introduce road charging at double the rate allowed on rail.........
taht might reduce their popularity a bit!

alloy, caernarfon,

Think I will start learning to drive!

e, london,

and I quote: ...'Ministers were accused yesterday of orchestrating the increases but leaving the operators to take the blame.'

How very unlike this Labour Government.

Mark, Birmingham, UK

Make MPs pay for their own rail fares. That would help keep prices down.

jj, Cambridgeshire, UK

Well the government and the rail companies are certainly encouraging people to get back in there cars. I could do 6 return journeys in my car for the price of a £109 open retun ticket from Nottingham to London.

Chris, Purley, Surrey

Ripped off by again by New Liebour. What is new?

Colin D. Gibbs, Dover, Kent

You wouldn't think that the Industrial Revolution was built on the railway network, would you ...

starling, Lancaster,

The British Rail system has been rubbish for quite some time, cash starved by succesive governments when it was nationalised - it has only gone downhill since privatisation. Surely the government should do what every European government is doing - looking to the French Railway model.

I regularly fly from Amsterdam to London and the rail contrast/costs are truly shocking, e.g.; Amsterdam Centraal to Schipol, cost Euro 3.60 versus Heathrow to Paddington cost GBP 15.

I predict a riot!

Spitz, Amsterdam, Holland

Car driver only think about the marginal cost of running a car i.e. the fuel they consume, so unless a train journey is considerably cheaper them no one will get out of their car and use a train. If the Government is really green they should subsidise the railways to an extent that may them an attractive alternative to a car. Who wants to stand in a bumpy train costing a fortune to use? The people who live in the middle of our clogged up cities are the main users.
What we need a more trains more lines and cheap prices them I for one would take the train to London this weekend rather than drive, but I am not going to spend £90 on rail tickets for my wife and I when £40 of diesel and an £8 congestion charge will get us door to door. Outside of the rush hours trains have priced themselves out of the market and taxing the motorist more is not the answer

Alan Lusher, Fareham, UK

I went back to London last November to visit family and was shocked to see the price of rail travel in the U.K. I can honestly say that the price of rail travel in Japan in much cheaper, safer, and much more reliable. An average subway ticket within central Tokyo is about 210JPY which is about 1GBP. I hope the goverment takes action before the environment is damaged further and tourist's stop visiting our wonderful country as it's too expensive to expore.

Brit in Japan, Tokyo, Japan

And all this will span from the plans to introduce road pricing schemes. As the cost of motoring increases, this leads to the green light for rail fares to be raised.

Yes, the rail companies shouldn't get government subsidies if they are making profit and paying directors £Ms, but this pseudo PPP can't be tainted with rail companies going out of business as they try to upgrade facilities and tracks as that would be an admission of failure on the part of government. They know very well that soon the majority of travel needs to be by fast, efficient, greener methods but there will be a struggle first which the government cannot afford on its own.

Conversely, as everything seems to be racking up in price at the moment, will the average employee be able to afford to get to work soon? Will this be an expansion of the North-South divide that has been commentated on here, where huge subsidies will have to apply north of Hertfordshire?

Alistair Kipling, Birmingham,

Looks more and more like Brown is the same old Brown and the spin tactics of Blair remain as strong as ever!

JJ, Epsom, Surrey

What an insulting load of comments directed at our wonderful rail system. After all, we invented it and its part of what made us great. What a pity we can't invent management to go with the technology!

KR, Stockport,

I have finally given up on public transport and bought a scooter. It costs me £2 to travel to work and back, a journey of 54km a day! My bike is always on time, I always have the best seat and it cost less than a quarterly metro pass to get it on the road!

Ian, Leeds,

As an (ex) life time Labour voter (one of very many) I never thought I would be saying this -
Amongst other policies the reasons I voted for them were Investment in Rail and Public transport, reduced road building and Freedom of Information.
They have shown that on transport issues they are not to be trusted,and in secret reversed most of these policies.
In fact their Protege the D(a)fT Rail led by Gauleiter Mitchell (who is he did you say) are the most secretive and mendacious of that most mendacious government departments the Department for Transport.
Since taking over from the Strategic Rail Authority rail policy has been made in total secrecy with lip service being paid to consultation. Each request for 'difficult' Information from them beimg either ignored or treated as commercially confidential.
It is almost as if we are in a police state where decisions are remote, and contradict
Blair has gone. We now have 'Son of Blair' The quicker we kick the lot out the better

H Harvey, Birmingha,, UK

No surprise there. I wouldn't mind paying more for a reliable service and one in which gurantees me as seat. As it is, I pay almost £3,000 and have to stand in excess of 44 minutes each morning (service has deteriorated since new franchise)

The rail companies are a law unto themselves.

Jan, Chatham, Kent

Running a railway is very expensive. There are only two sources of income. Ticket sales from travellers or a subsidy from the government (found from taxes). Most railways are funded by a combination of the two. In Britain rail travel is paid for by approximately 60% subsidy and 40% by the traveller. In Countries where travel is cheaper (France), the taxpayer will be paying a much higher proportion of the cost. Should rail travellers be subsidised by taxpayers who do not use the service or should they pay a more realistic amount of the cost? Our government has decided that it is more democratic for rail users to pay a higher percentage of their travel costs.

Ian, Kent,

we desperately need to renationalise. Whether it's the tube or the trains, these franchises have been a disaster.

How on earth can current running costs be threefold of BR's? When the govt sold off our railways it was on the basis that private industry would be more efficient and cost effective.

With 50% more passengers and yearly price hikes they should be able to go it alone and still make money. It is a disgrace that passengers are forced to pay exhorbitant fares AND subsidise these incompetents through our taxes.

Julia D, London,

Recent two hour journey by express train service with booked seat, airline type film with individual earphones, on time, clean and comfortable at £17, where........Spain.
As usual...........rip off Britain.

Mike gee, bournemouth, uk

"Passenger Focus, the rail passenger watchdog, said there was no evidence yet that higher fares were deterring people from travelling by train. "

what delusional world do these people live in? we have no choice if we have to take the train to work!

absolutely appalling. and the government wonders why so many british are leaving the country for good. there's nowhere to live and we have been priced off the trains. well done.

reena, brighton,

Is there any wonder people will continue to rely on cars and as a more extreme measure dodge fares on the trains with this type of action? It is now so expensive for my train fare, I am content to have a 20-30 mins longer commute in the car than pay for a 40 min train ride into London

Nice timing too considering the recent Live Earth efforts

Another point demonstrating the Govt has been financially irresponsible for the past 10 years and is trying to pay for it by furthe stealth taxes

Shaun, Ascot, UK

Dear 'Passenger Focus', I never travel by train purely because of the price. Now you have evidence. It is cheaper to take a coach, and often even to hire a car.

Vincent Murphy, Saltash, United Kindom

Oh, how I long for a Government that had the integrity to deliver a joined-up transport policy.
No doubt, we'll see more money poured into road & air transport.
Look at the shoddy & muddled thinking over the Birmingham New Street Development. A station that is the busiest in the country is being given a mere makeover...
Style over substance...New Labours quite mantra...
The lack of vision over rail transport is breathtaking in it's incompetence.

Graham, Birmingham, UK

Why would you want to go to Nottingham then? It's cheaper to fly to the south of France and a darned sight more pleasant. Good old (new) Labour, screw the plebs.

JohnE, Fareham, UK

Fares have to go up and will keep going up because demand is currently increasing 6% every year whilst capacity is barely increasing at all. The governemnt's "longer trains" talk means we'll get a 9% increase in capacity over SEVEN years with a few new carriages.

Until the government gets behind projects like Crossrail, Thameslink, and a North-South high speed line the network simply won't be able to cope. But no, that would actually involve INVESTING money in our nation's infrastructure.

Get a backbone Brown. Get things moving before nobody can afford to travel anywhere!

Richard, Oxford,

You get what you pay for... directly related to privatisation and the governments failure to honour at least one of their obligations to the voting public, supplying a cheap and effective means of travel by rail.
Since the end of steam and the privatisation of the railway network it has been nothing but chaos from one end to the other. France is the only country that supplies a decent rail network, what a disgrace for Britain who were responsible for rail travel and inovation in the first place. Nationalisation is the only way to ensure that there is an overall responsible single faction.........British Rail.

Dave, Newcastle,

Ten times dearer rail fairs than Australia. There's a headline.

John, Peterborough, UK

High fares are bad enough, but I travel regularly with passengers who are clearly fare dodging, by all kinds of clever means - and I am paying indirectly for them

Brian Lucas, Portsmouth, Uk

My girlfriend and I are 26 and coming to end of our last Young Person's railcard. I've always been in favour of public transport for environmental reasons but because of the ridiculous prices nowadays I'm learning to drive - they're literally making it cheaper to own and drive a car than for two people to travel on the trains.
This from a government that is supposedly trying to reduce car traffic.

E, Newcastle,

This is (another) little gift from the Labour party for all those people who voted for it... and everyone else too unfortunately.

john, london,

Co-ordinated fare increases look to me like a clear case of price-fixing. Wonder what the Office of Fair Trading and the European Commission will make of that? Imagine if Ryanair and Easyjet were to announce near-identical increases.

Tim C, Isle of Wight, UK

And then the government wonder why so many people now choose to fly around the UK!

Geoffrey, Belfast,

What a bunch of twisters this government is, and what is all this rubbish about caring for the environment. God, how glad I will be to see the back of the whole sorry bunch of them.

D Case, Newquay,

Thank you, Mr Brown. Confirmation that nothing has changed. You wrecked my miserable pension and now you take away my chance to visit friends as well, and all under the guise of it being someone else's fault.

Rosemary Venner, St Neots, England

I don't think any other government would do anything else. They're all the same. It's about time the railway networks accepted some of the blame that they seem so keen to place elsewhere.

Fred, Shrewsbury,

During the last few weeks I have been on Swiss, Italian and French trains about a couple of dozen times. All trains were on time, there were plenty of seats, I did not have to book my tickets in advance and prices were extremely low compared to Britain. The comparison between these European countries and the UK is damming. Tthe people who are in charge of the current transport mess in the UK (from the Prime Minister down) should be sacked for gross incompetence.

Prof C. F. Barenghi, Newcastle upon Tyne,

It now typically costs more than £100 to get a "cheap" return to London from Sheffield, whereas the fuel costs in my car would be under £30. I don't like the long drive, but I can't afford the rail ticket so have no other choice; coach would be about the same price (£30) but times are more restricted. Compare all this to Italy, where it is possible to travel equivalent distances by train for under £15 in an air conditioned carriage!

Christopher Hall, Sheffield,

why the surprise,this govement will tax anything,that they can,always have, always will.I'm alright Jack is there attatude.

peter brown, St Leonards on Sea, East Sussex

How on EARTH can they go on and on about climate change, the need to use public transport more etc... then increase the prices of using public transport beyond inflation.

Totally ridiculous.

Mark Coleman, Birmingham, uk

It is appalling the cost of rail services. I pay over four thousand a year to get to work. I know it is my choice to work in London but there are not enough jobs where I live that pay a decent salary. The way things are going we won't be able to afford anything. Increasing train fares is fine if you dont pay the travel yourself. I do at a cost of £400 a month. DISGUSTING.

Louise Sanders, Wellingborough, Northants

and so the farce of rail privatisation drags on, despite all the evidence that it's driving people away from public transport at a time when we should encouraging them to use it.

The government really needs to make up it's mind whether it's committed to the environmental cause, on the one hand it talks about radically reducing carbon emissions, but on the other approves new airport runways and allows public transport to become more and more expensive.

Owen, London, UK

Renationalise? Does anyone truly believe this government can run a national railway system? And who wants to pay for tens of thousands more public-sector final salary pensions? How much would that add to our fares? How much to our taxes?

Martin, London,

...but cars are the scourge of modern society and we should all use public transport?

Neil S, Glasgow, Scotland

Oh well. I will just have to go back to using my car.

mike, bury st edmunds,

It's one way of avoiding overcrowding, but a better one would be to expand capacity.

colin forbes, Shrewsbury UK,

Come tew New England, you can trvel through three states for the cost of a local ride in the UK

NIck Knight, Dublin , Ireland

Not unbelievable - totally consistent with every other policy of our present government. Shaft the people, blame someone else. Say one thing but do the other.

Hawken, Newquay,

Train prices in the UK are already the highest in the world, and they are total rubbish - overcrowded and always late. It is time for passengers to strike back - we need massive revolt by customers - organise a local 'travel free' day and swamp the inspectors, especially on SouthWest Trains who have already raised off-peak travel by 20%.
This is just another lousy Labour stealth tax and they pretend to be concerned by road congestion!

John, Guildford, Surrey

Dear Passenger Focus, I for one am deterred from travelling by train partly due to higher fares, and partly due to the appalling record of First Great Western. In some ways I'm lucky as I can choose how often I travel into London. But when it comes to the end of my current contract I will not consider travelling by train as a sensible or economic option.

One day, something that the government is involved in will make everybody happy, but that day isn't going to happen while this government is in power.

Martin, Berks, England

Good. We should end all subsidies to rail companies. Make them please their passengers if they want to make a profit, then perhaps we will see an improvement in the service.

Right now they get away with providing poor service because they get their subsidies unless their performance is absolutely dire.

Jamie, Bolton, UK

Re-Nationalize Now!
Make rail travel cheap and put the short haul airlines out of business. If the government is truly green that is the only way.
Thanks for my opportunity to be heard.

Richard Tucker, Cotter, Arkansas

I've recently moved to Australia and was visiting my uncle by train out of Sydney. A rush hour journey of 1 hour up to the central cost cost less than $10 - That's about 4 pounds.

If you wanted to get the train from London to Eastbourne at the same it would cost you 40 pounds.

You also get a seat and trains that run on time.

I don't understand how these people get away with it.
It also turns any pollution reduction efforts by the government into a joke as they offer little incentive to get out of the car.

Matt Burman, Melbourne, Australia

unbelievable! Is all I can say!

chenge, london,