The growth in passenger numbers is obviously a good thing, despite some of the growth being a bounceback from a recessionary year with suppressed demand; 2009.

But it certainly spikes the guns of rail fares campaigners, who will struggle to make their case as long as more and more passengers are crowding onto the trains, despite the fact that some of the growth has been because prices were previously held low by rock-bottom inflation.

Petrol prices do not seem set for a collapse just yet, and the Government’s latest hint that it is to placate motorists with a fuel duty stabiliser will go only a small way to addressing this.

Rail travel, by contrast, remains heavily subsidised by the taxpayer and regardless of the public finances, the passenger seems set to take more of the burden via higher fares. Nevertheless, the potential growth without these onerous rises could be spectacular.