“I didn’t know you were a Willie!” That’s what someone said to my husband over lunch last week.

In case you are confused – I was – “Willie” is an acronym for Work in London Live in Edinburgh. And I am here to tell you that being a Willie has gotten a whole lot more expensive in the last 12 months thanks to the ludicrous system of railway franchises we have in the UK.

Like an ever increasing numbered of families today mine is a two city household. For a great career opportunity two and a bit years ago my husband moved to London during the week, while because of a great school the rest of the family stayed behind.

We alternate weekends between the two, but in the last year the cost of these intercity commutes has skyrocketed. This time last year a weekend return for me cost £28. Now it costs £71.50 – well over a 100% increase. It is quite simply I believe a rip off, as it is hard to imagine that the cost of operating the service has risen three-fold in a year.

National Express took over the franchise from GNER in the spring last year and by fiddling with the price structure of its tickets it is now impossible to get the lowest fare advertised if you travel on a Friday. My ticket is only £71.50 because I have a family railcard – my husband pays over £100 because he does the journey alone.

In fact the price went up more or less overnight once National Express took over. But with a child in school it is not like we have a choice about when we can travel. What is really galling is that the train companies have actually been praised by government and others for simplifying their ticketing.

Maybe after last week’s revelation that train travel in the UK is the most expensive in Europe by some margin government might sit up and take notice, but I doubt it.

The Government asked Passengers Focus to look at value for money of UK rail fairs

No point complaining to an MP though, I doubt many could even tell you what their most recent train ticket actually cost. It doesn’t matter to them what they pay as they claim it back from us – the tax payer. Perhaps the Taxpayers Alliance might be interested? They try to hold government to account for wasteful spending.

I have a theory that if members of Parliament actually had a cap on the ticket amounts they were allowed to reclaim from us the taxpayer, they might sit up and take notice of the outrageous sums the rest of us are being charged.

Oh yes and one last thought – all those cheaper rail fairs are offered by state owned railway operators – perhaps who ever is in charge when the current round of franchises come up for renewal would do well to remember.