AS a regular rail user I just cannot believe the train fares will be going up yet again.

And what are the local passenger representatives doing about it? Nothing! The services are getting worse, the rolling stock is decrepit (the so-called 'Pacers' should have been sent to the scrap yards years ago) and the overcrowding is Third World.

This must be a living hell for commuters and local visitors to Manchester. As soon as Margaret Thatcher privatised we knew this was going to happen. For all that we can see, all the increased revenue, including government subsidies, will be going towards lining pockets of fat-cat company managers. The government needs to re-nationalise and get experts in from the EU ie Germany, France, Italy etc, to do the job properly. They certainly know how to do it. And why hasn't Bolton been given a tram service to Manchester? Are Bury, Oldham, Rochdale and Wythenshawe deemed to be more in need that we are? You only have to witness the overflowing mass of waiting passengers on platform 3 to realise that this is not the case.

Mohammed Ismail,

Ladybridge.