I don’t travel much by train in the UK, but every time I do it becomes easier to understand why so many people in this country complain about the railway.

The following table compares the cost of a future journey to Coventry by train with my most recent trip to France by air. In both cases I booked the least expensive fare available.

Discount airlines have received a lot of attention in recent months. Clearly it’s time we had discount railways too.