The Office of Rail and Road officially declared 2018 the poorest year for punctuality since 2005. An annual season ticket from Worthing to Victoria has risen from £4,752 (£5,616 with connecting underground) to £4,900 (£5,792). What are passengers getting in return for those prices? Nationally, the cost of rail travel in the UK now averages £1 a mile – rising to £1.70 per mile on the Heathrow Express. The cost of car journeys is estimated by the tax office at 45p per mile, so that hardly encourages traffic off our roads. Comparing season tickets as a percentage of average income, the UK comes out far more expensive than any other European country. We traditionally top the league at around 14 per cent, with Germany at less than eight per cent. Ironically, Germany and French trains are state owned, whereas UK trains were privatised to achieve ‘more investment’. State-owned European trains are clean, cheap and on time, while people from Worthing and Shoreham trying to get to work have to pay more and more to get less and less. It’s profiteering of the worst kind. The logic for renationalising is clear and increasingly urgent. Lavinia O’Connor Labour Party prospective parliamentary candidate for East Worthing and Shoreham, Sussex Wharf, Shoreham Beach --- • Share your views – email letters@worthingherald.co.uk, letters@shorehamherald.co.uk or letters@littlehamptongazette.co.uk. --- Sussex passengers hit by 3.1 per cent average rail fare increase Robber who eye-gouged Lancing man after he got off the train is jailed Worthing man devastated by mysterious cat death: ‘He was definitely killed by someone or something’ --- • Benefit from an ongoing discount on your Herald or Littlehampton Gazette by joining our voucher membership scheme. Once you’ve subscribed we’ll send you dated vouchers which can be exchanged for your paper at any news outlet. To save money on your Herald or Littlehampton Gazette simply click here.