Disincentive to use the trains

Although I am a confirmed car and bike nut, I am also an enthusiastic user of public transport. It's so agreeable to look out of the window as you fly over rivers and roll through the rolling countryside. You can talk to your fellow passengers (they are a lively and fascinating lot) or you can have a nap if the day job has been strenuous. Since, embracing rail travel between Liskeard and Plymouth, I have become something of a leisure driver and enjoy being the behind much more. I am there because I want to be, not because I have to be.

Rail ticket prices rose by about 6% at the start of this year but even with petrol at about 85p a litre I still think rail travel is preferable. Punctuality has improved in the seven years I've been using the train and there's less crowding. Fewer trains than seven years ago but still less crowding, which must indicate a migration to the roads.

Last week this insidious little sign appeared on the fence at Liskeard station announcing that a tariff will be imposed for car parking there from 1st February. Subsequent enquiries revealed that the daily charge will be ₤2 although a season ticket may be available for ₤370 a year.

How these charges will be paid is unclear.

How they will be afforded is even less certain.

Many of my fellow passengers are now seriously considering driving into Plymouth. Long stay parking in Liskeard costs ₤1.50 a day but there’s a fair walk down from the town and an even less fair walk back up at the end of the day, especially in the wind and the rain. I don’t think local residents will appreciate us blocking them in at 7.30 in the morning if we try to spread ourselves around the nearest residential areas.

I live some way out of Liskeard in the foothills of Bodmin Moor but, a few years ago, experimented with buses to the station for a week. This added 45 minutes to my journey time if the connections worked. If it didn't - as happened twice on the five days of my experiment - a taxi at ₤9 one way was the only option. So although I tried the buses I can't honestly recommend them.

I have written to my MP, Colin Breed, because I believe the rail companies are imposing ticket price increases by stealth. Rail prices are regulated by the government but I bet parking at stations isn’t. A suit at First Great Western will probably earn a fat bonus this year for exploiting rail travellers but on environmental grounds this doesn’t make sense.