Letter: Free transport

I read with incredulity and disgust Alastair Dalton's report (21 May) that train fares are to rise by 1 per cent above inflation, currently 5.3 per cent.

I recently travelled to Brighton to speak to the annual conference of the Public and Commercial Services union. The standard class return ticket, booked online and in advance, cost 220. Furthermore, as Edinburgh Airport was closed that day because of volcanic ash, the 10:30am London train resembled those we see in the third world.

Dozens and dozens of passengers, young and elderly, were left crouching in the aisles. I was one of them. I reserved a seat, but gave it up to a young French woman and her infant who, having visited Edinburgh, were on their way home.

The speech I gave to the PCS conference the next day outlined the case for free public transport as the most effective way to combat the greenhouse gases emitted by motor vehicle exhausts.

The government's aim to pass the cost of running our railways on to passengers instead of matching the subsidies provided by all our European neighbours does nothing to persuade people to leave their cars at home.

COLIN FOX

National spokesman for the Scottish Socialist Party

Alloway Loan

Inch, Edinburgh