Better Transport

Affordable rail services are vital to me because...

"Decided to take the family on a trip to Blackpool and my thoughts turned to our carbon footprint. Driving from Huddersfield to Blackpool takes just over one hour each way and costs about £40 in petrol. I thought "let's go by train", for the following reasons: fun for the kids, better for the environment, relaxed, and best of all myself and my partner could have a drink while the kids hit the rides... So first thing I do is look up prices for two adults and two children, cheap day return to Blackpool, midweek, flexible on times... cheapest I could find was £86 for the family! So guess what... we took the car!" - Paul Ree.

"I use the train every day to travel from Manchester to Macclesfield. I have no choice but to travel peak time; if not I would be late for work. My teacher's wage is unlikely to go up any time soon. I find it harder and harder to afford the train. There is a lot of talk about booking in advance and cheap fares but all of these offers are prohibited along the route I travel, at the time I travel. I have recently worked out that driving this journey and the cost of the train would be about the same. There is no incentive for people who do normal working hours to travel by train and this proves it" - Rachael Carney.

"I will be a student at Sheffield Hallam University this year and will not be buying a car. If I want to go out on trips during my university years, I will not have the flexibility to go by car as I did at home. Therefore I will have to use rail or bus services (which are expensive). When I leave university it might be difficult to meet work commitments in a new job without buying a car. Rail services must be both affordable and frequent, and be integrated (both in fares and timings) with buses and trams. Freedom of movement is unfairly restricted by finances for people who choose to try hard to spare the planet of another car" - Ben Hughes.

"Affordable rail services are vital to me because I want to see less traffic on our roads, and end the noise and air pollution that destroys the harmony of our towns and countryside and undermines the health and safety of our children" - David Haycock. 

"We are retired and live in East Kent but our children and grandchildren are in various locations around the UK (West London, Oxford, Birmingham) and my disabled sister is in Somerset. The roads have got so congested, the cost of running a car is prohibitive and in any case we want to mimimise our carbon footprint so the train, together with our bus pass, is our preferred method of visiting them all" - Brian Heselden.

"Affordable rail services are vital to me because I do not drive and trains are vital for getting me to work" - Trevor Smith.

"Visiting a friend in Surrey has just cost me £76.90 - and that's after my 16-25 railcard has given me a one-third discount. To make the same journey after my card expires next month would cost me £115.35. When I graduate, it will cost my sister £66.75 to attend the ceremony, after the discount from her railcard. My dad has already said that it will be cheaper for him to drive in his gas-guzzling 4x4 than to get the train" - Helen Griffiths.

"Affordable rail services are vital to me because I want to reduce my car use and they are the only valid alternative for long journeys - domestic flights are a travesty when we should be reducing carbon emissions, and coaches can be slow and uncomfortable" - Dave Hubble.

"If I take my family shopping in Manchester from Bury the fare on the Metrolink is £3.50 each return. Therefore for two adults and two teenagers, it costs £14 for a ten-mile journey. I can drive the car in and park for a fiver. I am also taking my daughter to a university open day at Sunderland. I would like to go on the train, but the fare is £127 each, so I will end up driving again" - Martin Fanworth.

"My company will shortly be relocating from Crawley to Leatherhead. They are trying to encourage us all to be as green as possible after the move by restricting car parking spaces. I dread to think how much it will cost me in both time and money to travel by train. It will involve a ten-minute walk, two trains (at least 45 minutes to an hour and 20 minutes depending on connections) and a bus or 15-minute walk at the other end. I currently have a 12-minute car trip each day. If only there were cheaper fares, reliable services and investment in rail lines to take people where they need to go" - Val Tuson.

"My son is studying in Cornwall, my daughter about to study in Dundee and I live in Manchester. I don't have a car and the increasing cost of getting to Cornwall by train is encouraging me to fly instead. With internal flights coming down in price, and rail travel going up in price, it doesn't take a genius to see what's going to happen. Is the Government actually interested in ecologically sensible travel or is it just a myth...?" - Sheila Seal.

"Yesterday I had to go to Milton Keynes in the morning and cycle on from there. Virgin charged me £32.40 for a journey that is just half-an-hour each way, then turned me away from the train because I didn't have a cycle reservation, which I couldn't have got from the ticket machine. Sort it out for me, eh?" - Peter Lockley.

"Affordable rail services are vital to me for journeys from Dumfries to Hamilton. I have tried to use my very convenient, express bus service which is reasonably priced but as I want to travel with my dog I am not allowed (at New Year I was left at Hamilton Bus station with my dog, on a pouring wet day - there's nothing in the timetable that says I cannot travel with a dog). I therefore got a lift with somebody in a car next day. So much for encouraging me to use public transport" - John Schofield.

"Affordable rail services are vital to me because of my three children: two live over 150 miles away. At present I am still working but very shortly I will only have the state pension to rely on and wonder how I will get to visit them (nowadays I cannot drive there and back in a day because I get tired). We naturally all want to see our children and none more so than myself as I lost one of my daughters! It means a lot but the cost needs to be affordable and I believe the Government has a duty to help us" - Carol Allen.

"We live in a London suburb, and have to commute into Central London for work. Many less well-off Londoners have to spend more than a month's net pay on their annual travelcard - which is excessive. We also take our son to school, sports and music events etc by public transport. Fares within the UK are absurdly overpriced, both in comparison to the fares for similar distances in continental countries, and in relation to air fares. Why should a peak-hour fare from London to nearby Birmingham cost more than a 900km trip across Germany?" - Gerhard Bissels.

"I used the train to commute daily from Warrington to Manchester. Working in the city centre meant that parking spaces were very expensive and the train was the only option. The volume of passengers at rush hour clearly shows that millions of people depend on the railway to get to work each day, and this in turn directly affects the viability of our towns and cities to support wealth creation" - Colin Williams.

"Affordable rail services are vital to me because otherwise I use my car too much. When I go to London, it's much cheaper in the short term to drive than go by rail, though I use rail to protect the environment. The same can be said of buses. The decrease in the cost of using a car and the increased cost of using trains and buses since 1997 is a scandal. I own both a car and a motorcycle and know they are fun, but I also know they should be used much less. There must be a substantial decrease in the cost of bus and train travel so we feel we can use them without being penalised" - Rupert Pitt.

"When I visit my mother in Wales I would prefer to use the train but the standard fares are too expensive and buying the cheaper fares is a lottery. Also neither the phone nor the internet has an option for being able to take a bicycle with you. We mostly end up driving as it's cheaper when more than one person is travelling" - Will Embliss.

"There needs to be a clear incentive to encourage people to ditch the car and use public transport alternatives. Train and bus travel should be the default option - car travel should be the luxury option. Currently, it's the other way round, especially with walk-on rail fares. This is even truer where two or more passengers are travelling. Train travel is much more environmentally sound than driving but needs to be available at a reasonable price (and with good standard of service) for it to become a realistic option for many" - David Giles.

"I need to travel both for business and to visit my daughter in Liverpool. The Rail fare from Leeds is about £32 return, on top of £3 or so bus fare to get to the station. That's an expensive trip. By coach from Leeds it is considerably cheaper but means joining the inevitable crawl over the M62. Why is road travel so much less? And why, when the rail tracks are quiet for about 70% of the time, is everything forced onto the alrady dangerously over-filled motorway? It seems the rest of Europe has the common-sense attitude to rail travel, where spending is considered investment not subsidy" - Phil Greaves.

"By catching the train and cycling to work I  drive 3,900 miles less and save over 1,000kg of CO2 in just 12 weeks! It is essential that the Government and operators invest in the network. Living in the South West, I see the sea from the train at Dawlish, but soon we won't see Dawlish from the sea. We must act now, to do everything we can to get people out of cars and planes and onto trains" - Russell Geake.

"We need to cut CO2 emissions from cars. Massively. Last night I was cycling in London. The lights went red on a busy crossroads. Suddenly the roaring roads became almost silent as walkers and cyclists were the only movement. My shoulders relaxed. I felt better. 45 seconds later the roar returned. Why do we carry on living this way when the new world (that oil prices are going to end up driving us into anyway) is so, so much better?" - Briony Greenhill.

"I am on a low income and I need to visit my elderly mother 250 miles away, sometimes at short notice. I have a car, but travelling by train greatly reduces my carbon footprint, something I feel strongly about. Unfortunately, because of expensive rail costs I have to use the car" - Alan Gunning.

"We recently bought an advance ticket from Saxmundham to Bradford on Avon at a cost of £100. Using a budget airline, the same money could have taken us to a wide range of European destinations. Why is travelling by train so expensive? Dissuading people from using their cars has to involve more than taxing fuel and road use. There must be a viable alternative way for people to make their journeys" - Joe Cassels.

"I have recently decided to give up my car and use the train to travel to and from work. My reasons were to cut my outgoings, take one more vehicle off the roads and reduce my travelling time. Last week the weekly cost of my journey was £28; today it has gone up to £39.50... exactly how are we being encouraged to use public transport? I may possibily look at buying another car now" - Fiona Russell.

"We do not have a car and depend on rail to get about the country to see relatives, for instance I take my two small children up to Wrexham by train to visit grandparents. Walk-on fares are extremely expensive, even with a family railcard, and it is not always possible to book ahead to get cheaper fares - sometimes a crisis requires an unexpected journey, or cheap fares are just not available on school holiday dates when we can travel" - J Prince.

"I study away at university and use the railways to get home to visit my family and friends. However, with rises in ticket prices year upon year, even with my Student Railcard this is an exercise I can barely afford. Make prices fairer. They are affordable in other European countries which have better services" - Alan Chaffe.

"I don't have a car and because I am disabled I often travel with someone. Therefore it isn't just me who has to pay train fares: I also have to convince a friend to do so. I don't think it will be easy to encourage people to chose the train over the car when the car is perceived as so much easier and cheaper. Surely if the Government is to meet its climate change targets it should be encouraging rail?" - RKY.

"I travel by train so I can read reports on the way to business meetings. I also travel to visit friends and family at weekends. My travel decisions are based on time and convenience as well as cost: is it cheaper to hire a car to make the journey from say Manchester to Leicester or catch the train? Prices on many journeys seem to be a bit of a lottery; passengers still need good value walk-on fares as well as discounted advance purchase tickets" - Dominic McCann.

"I am a student and apart from all of the other arguements I refuse to get trapped into the car culture by buying one. Rail travel is the easiest and pleasantest way for me to get around the country and I beg the government to take the necessary measures such as making rail travel affordable. Climate change is a real problem and the deadline for mitigation is fast approaching; rail travel is an important and viable means for travel in a sustainable economy" - Kerry Lane.

"Affordable rail services are vital to me because they enable me to do a job I'm passionate about. I commute every day from Sussex to work for a charity in South London. House prices in London mean that I'm unable to live closer to my job so it's vital that I have an affordable journey. The train takes slightly longer than driving but I'm proud that I'm not adding to traffic and pollution. However, each time train tickets increase in price it pushes me a step closer to the day when I decide that buying another car and driving to work is the only option left" - Daniel Haskell.

"Affordable rail services are vital to me because I want to use them for environmentally sustainable business trips to Europe. I am planning a trip to Vienna. If I go by train it will cost £560 (return trip); by plane the cost is around £250" - Barry Rawlins.

"I don't drive so I rely on the train to visit relatives, go to medical appointments and go on holiday" - Joe Cassels.

"I'm travelling with my wife and father this week and, frankly, £300 is too much for us for a 100-mile round trip. So we'll go the slower, less green way. There are just two trains a day each way calling at Melksham station. A few more would be nice: they WOULD be used at an affordable price! And let's make pricing simpler: I'm faced with 28 (!) different price options when I book online, most of which aren't actually available on the day I need to travel" - Graham Ellis.

"Train travel saves me from driving for long periods of time to see my children in other counties and getting a neck ache (osteoporosis beginning). The train means that I don't get into lengthy traffic jams on my way to work, and I can read a book by the time I get to my visitors!" - Carol Allen.

"I live on the outskirts of Middlesbrough where buses are far too expensive, uncomfortable and time-consuming. There are no cycle tracks or footpaths leading to the town, which is eight miles away. I need the train to get to university every week, and for shopping for necessities" - Mark Tait.

"I often have to travel at relatively short notice. Why should I pay more than other people who can plan their journeys? Trains in Holland are 'glorified buses' with a very simple pay-per-distance price structure, no inflated prices around Amsterdam and no seat booking. A single journey from where my mum lives to Amsterdam Airport (3.5 hours) is only 32 Euros" - Henk Smit.

"Affordable rail services are vital to me because I'm a student" - Hannah Cooper.

"I'm a passionate traveller who doesn't want to kill the planet. I'm also a student who uses the rail network to get to university. I receive a maintenance grant and find that at least a third of my weekly budget is spent on travel expenses. When this is broken down, the main component appears to be train tickets, due to their exorbitant price! Unless train travel is made more affordable I will be forced to take the infrequent and snail-like bus" - Tracey O'Connor.

"I do not have a car and do not want to own one as I am aware of the environmental problems. I always travel by public transport or bike. When I first came to the UK, I was surprised by the public transport fares. To travel from Newcastle to London (400km in four hours), the walk-on fare is £124. In France, to travel from Paris to Nantes (400km but in two hours only), the walk-on fare is equivalent to £50 during peak hours and £40 off-peak. Why is public transport so expensive in the UK?" - Pierre-Alain Menant.

"I can't drive, and rely on trains for long journeys. Until recently I had a Young Persons Railcard and so the price wasn't too bad, but now I don't - and I'm certainly not earning any more than I was - so the walk-on price is very high. By booking ahead and specifying a journey you can make huge savings, but only after spending hours researching all the options. In Italy the price you pay is exactly related to the number of kilometres you travel. The distance is even printed on your ticket! There is one price, and it's very cheap. Two of us travelled 152km for 15 euros total! The trains were reliable and efficient... it was lovely!" - A Milne.

"Without an affordable, comfortable alternative, people will carry on using their cars. It's a very simple point that Government seems to be deliberately avoiding. As far as the cash goes, surely it's a matter of priorities? If we can afford to throw countless billions at Northern Rock, Trident etc, then surely we can afford to provide a high-quality public transport service?" - Paul Conway.

"Rail is the most efficient form of travel. Lack of political will condemns people to congestion, pollution and road accidents. The Bristol area has 26 railway stations but few have a 30-minute frequency. Last year we ran a Half Hour Train Campaign which persuaded Bristol City Council to invest in a 40-minute frequency for a three-year period at relatively little cost (£1 million over three years)" - Julie Boston.

"I use the train to visit my girlfriend in central London at weekends. It's the only practical way to get there. My main gripe is that I have to buy two single tickets (I live in Slough and I can't buy a saver return from there), so I end up paying twice as much. I simply don't understand why a single should be almost the same price as a return!" - Robert Pallant.

"Affordable rail services are vital because without them there's a vicious circle causing people to use cars - especially in rural areas where public transport isn't reliable enough to use as a sole means of getting anywhere" - Helen Aldred-Jones.

"I am a student who often decides to travel places at the last minute. This means that I cannot take advantage of the advance tickets and have to pay the walk-on fare. Even with a railcard it is expensive to go home" - Matthew Moll.

"When I combine train travel with cycling I can get absolutely anywhere in the South East, and probably anywhere in the entire country, quickly and (to a degree, when my desired time of travel coincides with the different companies' cycle carriage regulations) easily - but for me to keep doing that and not give in to the apparent ease of travelling by car, it needs to be cheap too" - Kris Fowler.

"We no longer have a car so we reply on public transport for longer journeys. We live in the South East and our families are in the North of England so we need a reliable, affordable rail service to maintain our extended family ties" - Linda Temperton.

"Affordable rail services are vital because without them how can people be persuaded that rail travel is a better option than using a car? I no longer have a car but even when I did I would travel by rail wherever possible. However over the last few years that's become a real problem because it's getting more and more expensive" - Alison Mollett.

"I win lots of competitions (days out etc) for my family and myself, but then I have to pay the really ridiculous prices on the train, which spoils the whole thing" - Sue Hickey.

"We pensioners do not get much in the way of reductions over long distances. Belgian state pensioners get free bus, tram and rail travel!" - Len Lambley.

"I use the train to reach protest actions. Since protest is the visible proof that democracy isn't dead in this country, the Government should care about how easy it is to take part" - James Lamont.

"Affordable rail services are vital in helping me to persuade my friends to use their cars less and the train more when they're coming to visit or we're going somewhere together" - Sam Partington.

"I make several long-distance rail trips a year to see my grown-up children and my grandchildren, and often buy train tickets for them so that they can visit me. At the moment I try to plan journeys well in advance to take advantage of cheap tickets, but it seems to be a lottery. You have to be very quick and be prepared to spend a long time either at the local ticket office or on the internet. If I need to travel at short notice the fares are way beyond my budget and I have to use my car which is bad for the enviroment, stressful for me and adds to already congested roads" - Linda McDermott.

"Affordable rail services are vital to me because I have to catch the train regularly to get to university" - Peter Lucas.

"I depend on trains as I have no car and I am a pensioner on a fixed income" - Rita Taylor.

"I'm currently doing a lot of volunteering before starting a PhD. I don't own a car as I can get around perfectly well on public transport; I'd prefer not to increase my impact on the environment by owning one if at all possible. I need to be locally mobile to enable me to contribute to the charities and schemes that I work with, but I don't want to be bankrupted by train travel!" - Oliver Pescott.

"Due to health problems, I am unable to drive. I am reliant on public transport to make journeys that are outside reasonable walking distance. As rail fares increase, my life becomes increasingly more expensive" - Matthew McGee.

"Travelling by train is an adventure for my son. My mum lives on the other side of the country; I used to drive to visit her but after spending nine hours stuck in traffic with my nine-month-old son screaming for a feed and a change I decided never again. The train has always been fantastic: it takes four hours which is generally spent reading, drawing, playing, looking at the landscape, eating our packed lunch and running up and down the train. Also I love the fact that the way we travel doesn't contribute to climate change in the way that road travel does. But even with a family railcard the prices are getting more and more expensive" - Ali Battye.

"I do not have a car as I cannot drive, so I rely on trains for long journeys. There are so many different prices and tickets, it is confusing. If you have a computer with internet access you can get cheaper tickets online but you have to book months in advance, and you can only travel on certain trains at certain times. It would much simpler if they made the buying of train tickets less confusing" - John Leach.

"I refuse to buy a car and rely on trains for trips and holidays. As a low income earner I can little afford the exorbitant fares (some of the most expensive in Europe)" - Jan Goodey.

"I'm a student who relies on trains to get to university. I travel for 25 minutes from Swindon to Bath most days. This short (and notoriously unreliable) trip costs me £12.70! I have a Student Railcard but it cannot be used before 8.30am, rendering it practically useless as my lectures start at 9am. So basically, education is encouraged, but it's only affordable if you can be late every day or you can drive a car!" - Nadia Habib.

"I don't have a car and don't intend to get one - I travel short distances by bike or bus and longer distances by rail. It's not only the cost that's an issue, it's the confusing system of fares. From Peterborough (my local mainline station) I can get an advance saver to Norwich for £5 if I book online. Yet the cheapest fare to Brandon in Suffolk (about 40 minutes short of Norwich) is £13! Someone must address the escalation of prices, overcrowding and poor provision for cyclists and start to make rail travel enjoyable for all" - Dan Beeden.

"I have made the choice to lead a low-carbon lifestyle by not owning a car. I still need to visit friends and family around the country, take holidays and make leisure trips. I am not always able to book weeks in advance. I am faced with ever-escalating rail fares. This is primarily at the behest of the Government who, as their stated aim, want to transfer the costs of rail expansion from the taxpayer to the fare payer. At the same time the cost of motoring continues to fall in real terms. It is as if the Government wants to encourage more people to travel by car" - Noam Bleicher.

"I depend upon the railway to take me to see friends and to do business in a way that is effective and sustainable" - David Shaw.

"I would use the train more if it was more affordable. Open returns should be much cheaper. It is quite absurd that it is often cheaper for one person in a car to drive a given journey, and that is the yardstick that is often used" - Peter Crossley.

"I have two part-time jobs, one of which is 47 miles away. I do try and take the train to this workplace when I can, but the fare structure works against part-time workers. Were I to do this journey five days a week, the daily cost using a monthly season ticket would be £15.10. I only need to do this journey twice a week, however, which means I have to purchase daily tickets costing £26.80. The rail companies need to offer a season ticket that lasts say a month and allows two or three return journeys each week along a given route, with the cost of each journey close to that enjoyed by monthly season ticket holders. This would encourage part-timers such as myself to use public transport, rather than being forced financially to choose the car" - David Haines.

"Trains have to compete with other forms of transport that are more polluting. Travelling by train should be cheaper than flying or travelling by car, because it is greener. Anyone on a limited budget, however green they are trying to be, is going to take the cheapest option" - Anna Milne.

"I live in Southampton, but my elderly parents live in the south-west of Scotland. Booking a return train journey home at short notice costs in excess of £200, and in an emergency I have no choice but to pay this. In this day and age I find it unacceptable that you can fly to Europe and back for £20, but can't get to the other side of the UK by rail at an affordable price" - Wendy Graham.

"I do not drive, but I may be forced to learn: something that I resent. I live in Coventry, spend time working in London, have parents living in Edinburgh and frequently deliver training across England. Without affordable and convenient rail services I may be forced to drive" - David Kinnen.

"I am a pensioner; living in Brighton I do not need to run a car (if I could afford to run one) and get around on trains and buses. The rail service from Brighton is mostly good; I use trains to visit relations in Scotland and family and friends around the country, and travel to London for exhibitions, meetings and social gatherings. Wherever I am planning to travel, my first choice is by train, but the fares are becoming prohibitive on a limited budget. I would urge the Government to do all in its power to make fares affordable for all; by attracting more passengers and encouraging motorists out of their cars, rail would be more accessible and also contribute less to climate change" - Felicity Tanous.

"I have been retired for six weeks and live on the South Coast; my daughter and two grandchildren live in the Manchester area. Driving to see them is exhausting and environmentally damaging, so I rely on the train to go and see them regularly. Even with a Senior Railcard, the costs are high" - John Thackray.

"I use the trains to travel to work. Since starting work the cost of travel has approximately doubled for me due to price rises and changes in travel restrictions. A lot of the pricing for train journeys is hidden behind these travel restrictions, which not even the staff working for the train companies understand! I'm particularly concerned that people who work part time - including some of the poorest people - are penalised even further. Season tickets do not take part time workers into account, meaning that if you work three days a week you could end up paying the same price for your travel as someone travelling seven days a week. There should be a system whereby regular travellers can reduce the price of tickets" - Ro Smith.

"Well folks, I don't drive and I live in Aberystywth (deep in the wilds of West Wales) whilst my chap lives all the way up in Hexham (between Newcastle and Carlisle). If we want any sort of meaningful relationship it involves a £60 train ticket (with a young person's railcard). I accept that the rail infrastructure needs work and needs funding, but it is questionable given the poor standards of service what, if any, value for money the rail service is providing" - Erika James.

"Train travel is efficient, relaxing, pleasant. Thinking back to childhood: do I remember memorable car journeys? No. Do you? Unlikely. I do remember train journeys though - the excitement, my parents being more relaxed and able to spend quality time with each other and us kids. I want to be able to do the same for my child. We love trains! We play I-spy and cards, read, relax, have coffee... a far better way to travel. By the way we don't have anoraks!" - Sarah McClelland.

"If the UK is serious about reducing the volume of motor vehicles on the road, individuals need another mode of transport that presents a real, affordable alternative and one that is better integrated with bus, metro, tram systems" - Tim Wright.

"It is not fair to the environment, our health or our community connectedness to only offer one mode of transport that is remotely affordable: the personal automobile. Expanding rail services would allow people to travel more cheaply, with less pollution, and with more human-to-human interaction. I find the current system very isolating and destructive. People need more options, and when you can't ride a bike, or walk somewhere, I think rail is the way to go" - Leah Miss.

"I live in London and am originally from Liverpool. I can now no longer afford to travel home to visit parents and family more than about three times a year. Even if I try to book weeks in advance I can't get a ticket for under £60. Because of the high price of this and other rail journeys I take, I am considering buying a car. I don't want to do this because of the environmental issue but unless train fares come down then I may have no choice" - Steven Nodwell.

"I'm trying hard to use my car less. If the costs were lower, two of us would be able to justify taking the train to visit friends and family instead of using the car, but often it's the case that it works out cheaper (and quicker) to drive. Unless the prices come down it's unlikely we can justify the cost of replacing any long journeys unless travelling alone" - Emma Lawrence.

"Affordable rail services are vital to me because I live in London and the roads are so congested that driving a car is often not a feasible option" - Nick Darsley.

"Rail travel should be quicker, more comfortable and cheaper than car travel. Look to continental Europe where the travelling public has access to an affordable, sophisticated, clean, modern rail system. Such a rail system is essential to the infrastructure of any modern economy. Furthermore, the Government's refusal to provide adequate investment is serving to deprive the less well-off of the freedom of movement enjoyed by those who can afford excessive fares. It is, quite frankly, embarrassing" - Noel McLoughlin.

"Affordable rail services are vital to me because as I become older this will be the only way I can make long journeys. It has to make sense not to use so much precious resource on individual transport systems when with some fearless investment our railways could link up the whole country carrying people and goods. This was the way we were going in 1950s - let's try and turn to those ideas which were working" - Jeanne Gimblett.

"I cannot drive, and must use the trains for all long distance travel. I travel to university in the nearest city, as well as to the local town to use the shops and services. Prices keep on rising, but standards are falling" - Gareth Smith.

"The railway network of Britian is one of the best ways of getting around, and certainly the best when I don't feel like driving. Affordable rail services attract people to use the railways and therefore increase patronage, this increases the amount of money that the government and train companies will invest and so with this extra money the railway network can be improved" - Matthew Plato.

"My boyfriend lives in Cambridge while he completes his degree; I live in London. I recently went to visit him, but returning the following morning I was horrified to be charged over £20. As I said to the rail worker, I could fly to Majorca for that price! Were rail fares cheaper, I would be able to stay in touch better with university friends around the country. Given the links that have been made between mental health and feeling supported and connected to family and friends, the government should make it easier for people to travel" - Lianna Hulbert.

"Affordable rail services are vital to me because I need to use the train to visit family 150 miles away in South Wales" - Terry Kirby.

"I have always travelled by rail for work and leisure because I need to read and study on the journey. I want the rail network to thrive and grow, partly of course for my own use, but also strongly for environmental reasons. So I want the number of rail passengers to go on increasing. I can afford the fares but I know many who find them hard to pay; there should be better discounts for them" - Lance Pierson.

"I am an unemployed student and I cannot afford to go and visit my friends or see my family very often because I cannot afford the rail fares to get there" - Kerry Lane.

"Why is it that when you buy a rail ticket, you are not guaranteed a seat? Continental railways are a joy to travel on for this very reason. Surely if you are guaranteed your seat when you buy your ticket life would be easier for everyone, including railway workers. And from a health and safety aspect, there wouldn't be loads of people stood in gangways, between carriages and even on some occasions in the loos" - Stuart Mitchell.

"Affordable rail services are vital to me because they offer true freedom from the car, allowing me to travel around the country, both for business and pleasure. I also believe that affordable train travel is a driver of social change and justice. As well as affordable fares, the Government should also take a fresh look at opening up some of the closed routes from the 1960s, such as the branch lines to Cornwall. To keep communities together and keep jobs open for young people in rural areas, reliable, accessible transport is needed" - Natalie Westwood.

"There is an alternative to driving. Prime example: about 80% of the width of Sydney Harbour Bridge is for road vehicles, yet the road only carries about 40% of the passenger miles travelled over it. The other 60% are carried by long and double decked trains that occupy a quarter of the width. I rest my case. I like trains: the technology is there, they're safer and less polluting. We can't the Government give us as good a deal on railways as citizens in the rest of the industrial world?" - Richard Goddard.

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