Rail companies don't have a lot of fans. Cancelled services, delayed trains, poxy excuses, and those damn announcements. 'We apologise for any inconvenience that may have been caused' My train is two hours late, how on earth could there be any question over whether it has been an inconvenience?

Yesterday they announced something that seemed like good news. Fares will rise just 1.1% this year, the lowest rise since privitisation. So are they turning a corner? Is there a brave new world where train tickets are reasonably priced and services are seemless.

Well, what do you think?

I don't get the whole banks thing really.

Firstly, the Government openly encourages the mergers and acquisitions that have been a feature of our financial scene over the last few years so that we've ended up with just a handful of foreign and British-owned mega-banks that have drastically cut back on the competition and products available to consumers.

Then the Government decides to break up our banks to create more competition and newer smaller banks run by companies like Tesco and Virgin.

The train services dealt a harsh blow this week, when the full extent of the bank holiday disruption to the rail network emerged. Consumer groups argued that travellers deserved a discount for the fact their journey would take much longer, and rail companies did the corporate equivalent of shrugging and saying: "It's not my problem mate".

Train travel has become both expensive and unreliable, so what are the public transport alternatives, and are they worth the extra time or money?

The Black Pearl of banking

Lloyds TSB is starting to look like the Black Pearl from Pirates of the Caribbean. A dark, ominous ghost ship powered by God-knows-what evil forces that brings misery wherever it ports.

After announcing this week that it's shedding another 2,000 jobs, bringing the the total so far this year to around 7,000, it's certainly not the sort of place you'd be racing to for career enhancement. Though the management are in the frame for the blame, you have to remember that this is a bank of which the taxpayers, that's you and me, own 75% and we're supposedly represented by the Government.

Each year, I'm one of thousands of people who make the pilgrimage to Edinburgh for the heady dose of arts, music and comedy that is the Fringe festival, and each year the train fare from London becomes a little bit more horrifying. There are other travel options, and they're far cheaper - but I flatly refuse to fly anywhere that isn't overseas, and having tried the coach once I know that the train is the only choice for me. I tend to buy my tickets second-hand. But why does the most obvious and sensible route have to be so prohibitively and inexplicably expensive?

The short answer is privitisation of the railways, which has driven costs up and up. After National Express started charging customers £5 to reserve seats, passengers are voting with their feet, pushing the franchise into deep trouble. The company doesn't expect to be able to meet it's payment obligations, so the East Coast mainline is highly likely to come under state control later in the year.

But will nationalisation bring ticket costs down?

I've definitely done more than my fair share of standing on public transport. I'm not talking about the daily commute where I get a little over familiar with my fellow city-dwellers. I mean the few hundred miles sitting on my overnight bag on the way to visit family, or on one particularly memorable Easter, when I spent 14 hours in a flooded train tunnel.

But I only had myself to blame. No-one had stopped me booking a seat in plenty of time... except now they are.

Last week, I blogged about the rip-offs, delay and general hassle associated with air travel.

So if - like me - you're planning to holiday in the UK this year, how can you cut the cost of getting there and back?

There are loads of steps you can take. Whether you're driving, taking the train or travelling by coach, you can shave pounds off your break and avoid dealing with budget airlines!