They do it because they can. Imagine the reaction of the French to this; that's why it never happens there, only in the UK.

David Masu, Zürich, Switzerland

You can't expect politicians on expenses to care.

Neil McF, Southampton, England

And they wonder why people are still using there cars! make it reliable and at a reasonable price and people would use it

Paul, stafford,

To Barry, Wallington - What about those of us who work standard office hours and therefore have no choice but to travel at peak time? Why should we be forced to pay more when the standard of service we receive is invariably lower than that received by off-peak travellers?

Kelly, Malton, N. Yorks,

Pity the users of the Hastings - London line run by Southeastern. They are getting clobbered with the full 8% rise to pay for new high speed ('Javelin') trains, even though the trains will never run on this particular line, and will only serve Kent

Richard, Bexhill, UK

JT.... More people than ever before are using the train so the price per person should drop... exactly, funny how the price would DROP if less people used the trains ...( ex pat now living in Brazil)

Patrick Dunphy, Joinville, Brazil

The rises that many of us pay will be far more than this. Anyone that parks at their station will experience a huge rise in parking charges, in my case of over 20% each year. This makes the true fares increase far bigger than these published rates. If you live miles away then you have no choice

C Bell, West Horsley, Surrey

"Public transport is a service and should therefore not be run at a profit."

Just because something is a service there is no logical reason why it can't make a profit?

Hairdessing? Restaurants?

Alex, York,

"How come European trains are so cheap?"
In Switzerland you can get an annual ticket that allows you to use any train and bus, countrywide and at any time, at the cost of 1600 pounds (1100 for a second member of your household). And trains are mostly clean and on time. It is possible!

roger, London,

An "attractive" option? I have NO option - I live n Colchester and work in London. It costs me £3,740 at the moment and the trains are always late, and often full. Every day there is a litany of excuses - signal failure, track failure, broken down train, leaves on the line, wrong sort of snow.

Liz, London,

No problem! With more congestion charges coming in why not go for it?

Simon, Manchester, UK

For a while recently I travelled daily by train to and from London, very comfortably. How come? I was visiting my wife in hospital and able to travel off-peak. We'll go on getting these whinges every year until people spread their travel times or we taxpayers fork out for costly capacity increases.

Barry, Wallington, UK

The problem to my mind is the pathetic lack of planning shown. I use the trains on all sorts of routes almost every day and overcrowding is horrendous. Awarding the service from the S.Coast to Edinburgh to Virgin was the most ridiculous - the trains have always been far too small to cope.

Tanya, Derby,

There's only really one action to take on this if you are angry at the rail companies continually putting up their fares - BOYCOTT!
If you continue to pay and travel then they'll continue to raise the price. A small revolution is needed or the cost of living will continue while standard drops.

Marcus, London, England

the only thing about a petrol price of £30 is you have failed to consider road tax, maintenance and insurance. typical aberdonian view - penny pinchers! public transport is still far cheaper than using private transport.

Stephen , Perth, UK

this is absolutely disgraceful train fares are high enough! Labour should put more effort into helping train use become cheaper and more easy to use!

Harry, bury st edmunds,

"Record performance...".
Rail authorities define a train that arrives at its final destination 9 minutes overdue as not being late.
They've also increased the overall length of time for most commuter rail journeys.
It's all a con.

AndyH, Middlesex,

More people than ever before are using the train so the price per person should drop. Inflation is now dropping, so surely the price should drop. Mr Roberts says that 90% of trains arrive on time (a train has to be an hour late to be "delayed") so less refunds, so drop the price!

JT, St Albans,

I drive a 2 litre sports car (a "gas guzzler" I imagine the tabloids would call it) to work, and it's cheaper than the train. So bravo, we're doing great in this country to reduce dependancy on cars and foreign oil.

Tony, Islington, London, UK

I pay £3, 345 a year to travel from Bedford to London - The trains are unrelible, dirty and the overcrowding is so severe that passengers are left standing on platforms, it's an outrage! With fuel going up rail travel should be made more attractive! yet its significantly cheaper to drive!?!?

kerri fitzgerald, Bedford, England

1999 - GNER Berwick to London £48.95 return
2008 - NXEC Berwick to London £135.00 return
Public transport is a service and should therefore not be run at a profit.

Tim Murray, Berwick,

So you increase fares on public trasport at a phonominal rate, and you then bring in plans such as congestion charges in Manchester & Salford. However the result is not significantly better service nor better roads. i'd prefer no extra charge and no improvements.

Sun, Coventry,

How come European trains are so cheap and efficient and the UK ones so expensive and inefficient? Maybe the providers should look to them for some new ideas.

Sarah, MH, Albion

My train is a very tight squeeze every morning . More people are forced to use the trains into London as local government policy is to make it expensive to use alternative transport. Its time for train companies to give back to the pax and also be sensitive to the economic climate.

Marc, London,

Until they can make me feel safe at a station in the evenings I will continue to use my car. simple as that. my personal feeling of safety comes first.

Martin, Southend on sea,

Disgraceful and not value for money for the long suffering commuter. On the Thameslink line you rarely get a seat, the trains are often dirty, and the 0715 from St Albans has run late every day this week! Surely the service should visibly improve before fare increases can be applied to the customer.

ML, St Albans, UK

And my season ticket has just gone up by just shy of 10% (not going anywhere near London). So the "average" increase hides massive divergences (my increase is a little over twice the current RPI, almost twice that in July). So much for the planning ahead I did, based on RPI + 1% as advertised.

JS, Cambridge,

aberdeen too edinburgh, £35, return £36. Petrol cost in car £30. is it any wonder no one wants to use public transport?

liam, aberdeen, scotland

How is it, the commuter has to pay through the nose, but if you want to go on a return trip between London and Edinburgh, is cheaper than the commuters daily fare for travelling one stop up the line!

Gary Sykes, Berwick upon Tweed,