Ministers still do not have a straight answer on rail fare rises.

They can seriously invest in capacity improvements, or they can help the Treasury in its quest to shrink the deficit.

Whenever challenged on the upcoming rises, both answers come tumbling out; but in three years time, after consecutive 3% plus inflation rises, will the average passenger feel their rail experience has improved a significant amount? It seems unlikely, though of course we will retain judgement for now.

Passenger numbers are in a real growth period – we should seize this opportunity to rebalance our transport infrastructure towards rail through real investment, not use it as an easy cover for ever more rises while filtering the extra money raised off to the beancounters at the Treasury. Just because passengers put up with overcrowded services through necessity does not mean they should be rinsed for all they have in the name of deficit reduction – not if we want passengers to think of rail more favourably, and actively choose it over road for more of their journeys.