Libby Purves rants in The Times (1 April 2011) about ‘ignorant whining about ticket price structures’. She says the ‘cheap web fares are a brilliant new sport: economically crazy for the railways if everyone were to play, but with rich rewards for anyone with a broadband and a brain’.

She’s right. Suppose you want to go from Guildford to Birmingham on Wednesday 27 April? You look up www.nationalrail.co.uk, the national rail enquiries website.

You see that there are 8 different standard class single fares for your journey that day, costing from £10 to £88.

If you need to be in Birmingham by 10.00, the obvious train is the 7.04, change Reading, arriving Birmingham New Street at 9.48. Bad luck! The fare is £52.50.

But wait, what if you get a ticket on the 7.04 to Banbury, and then a ticket from Banbury to Birmingham, on exactly the same train? Your tickets cost £28.70 and £12.50, total £41.20, saving £11.30. For these tickets to be valid, the train must stop at Banbury, which it does.

Good, but it gets better. Suppose you make a big effort to get up early and get the 6.43 from Guildford and change at Banbury, getting into Birmingham at 9.34. Now your tickets are £28.70 and £5, total £33.70, saving £18.80, nearly 36%.

Perhaps you’ll go on to book a standard single back on the 12.10 from Birmingham New Street to Guildford (via London Euston), for the princely sum of £10.00. That compares very favourably with the single fare of £13.80 from London Euston to Guildford!

There are bargains to be had, if you’re quirky enough to be able to plan ahead on the computer. Inverness to Edinburgh is only £10. Llandudno to London is £13. These fares are without railcard discounts.

Surely, along with the Tudors, finding the cheapest rail fare should be on the GCSE national curriculum at school?

OK, I admit it’s not simple. We’re a long way from the old days of ‘a mile a minute, a penny a mile’. Even experts - booking clerks and National Rail Enquiries’ staff - don’t always find the cheapest fare. They probably haven’t got the time to do the necessary research. Don’t mention the ticket machines!

But there are two big advantages of the present system:

First, where there is overcrowding, seats must be rationed by price or queue. Why not charge less for a seat on the 05.00 from Waterloo to Portsmouth than on the rush-hour 17.30, encouraging people to use empty capacity and reducing queues at peak times? It makes sense. Train operators with seat reservations can be very sophisticated with pricing.

Secondly, if fares are simplified, cheap fares will go. They will be averaged, assuming train operators receive the same fares income. Instead of 8 fares from Guildford to Birmingham there might be one or two. The average fare, in my example, is £49, so the £10, £13 and £23.50 fares would surely go.

My top tips for booking cheap fares are:

(a) always consider a railcard, rover or season ticket

(b) do some permutations with fares to and from stations en route where the train stops, including London where you go via London

(c) book as far ahead as you can, but remember advance fares are not refundable

(d) if you like first class, consider weekend upgrades and SWT’s new off-peak first class discount

(e) check out www.megatrain.com for fares from £1

(f) take advantage of the 10% discount for booking some off-peak tickets on line: www.nationalrail.co.uk

(g) check the train operator’s own website for any special deals

(h) try different dates: midweek may be cheaper than weekends

Good hunting! Anyone for Giggleswick on 4 August?

To see Geoff's profile, click here.

Commuters would no doubt have been horrified at recent press coverage stating that, under the recent Government Spending Review, the cap on annual increases in season tickets (currently RPI +1%) will be raised, to RPI +3%. In seeking to reduce the budget deficit this Government (following on from its predecessor) has sought to continue the transfer of cost for running the railways away from the taxpayer and on to passengers, by increasingly withdrawing subsidies. (Notwithstanding that SWT is set, over the course of the current franchise, to be a net contributor to the Treasury's coffers).

Increases to season ticket prices of this magnitude will undoubtedly incense commuters, and SWT will inevitably be the focus of this anger and the associated adverse publicity. The question is, however, are we venting our frustration at the right people?

The Passenger Panel understands that as a result of the DfT relaxing fares regulation they will directly take all of the assumed benefit from SWT through an increase in their franchise payment to government, whether or not they actually decide to put up fares. To avoid making a loss therefore they will need to put up regulated fares by whatever DfT determines. Clearly this quirk is a disincentive for SWT to charge anything less than the full increase allowed. With RPI currently running around 4.6% we are looking at annual increases close to 8% - likely to far outstrip salary growth in the current economic climate.

The impact of this is not confined to commuters. As we have seen in recent years, Train Operating Companies (TOCs) will attempt to tap into alternative revenue streams by means of 'inflation-busting' increases in unregulated areas such as off-peak fares and car parking. Of course, this serves only to make rail travel an increasingly less attractive, less economical, option for the occasional or leisure passenger leading to a drop in the very revenue the TOC was seeking to increase.

Since it is an organ of Government we can primarily seek to influence the DfT's actions through our elected representatives. Whilst not wishing to let SWT 'off the hook' by any means, should we also be attempting to press upon our MPs the need for the DfT to examine the proposed changes for unintended consequences. These are, after all, the same MPs who will happily stand up and publicly criticise SWT on behalf of their constituents when fare increases are announced.

To see Georgina's profile, click here.