Rail will play a pivotal role in the economic and environmental future of the UK. We need an efficient rail network to accommodate car drivers who will be priced out of their cars by the roll-out of a national road pricing network, as announced in the Queen's speech. That is not an environmental measure, although it has obvious green benefits. Road pricing will boost the economy by cutting road congestion and allowing goods to arrive on time, while cutting delays for commuters who stream into work on the rail network instead of sitting stranded on blocked-up roads. And that's the problem.

The British rail system is in a far better state than it was five years ago, but the aftermath of the Hatfield crash was a nadir. It is struggling to cope with current levels of use, with seats being ripped out of some London commuter services in order to cope with demand that will rise by 30% over the next decade. The National Audit Office warned last week that the West Coast Line is running out of room despite an £8bn upgrade. Network Rail, the Railtrack-replacement that runs the rail system, receives £5bn per year from the taxpayer to maintain tracks and signals. It is asking for the equivalent of £6bn per year between 2009 and 2014 because congested routes such as Thameslink are in desperate need of an overhaul to accommodate passenger growth.

It is against this background of ever-escalating taxpayer contributions that fare payers were hit with the news yesterday of above-inflation ticket price increases. The government has decided that the balance has tipped too far in favour of the taxpayer and if commuters want an end to their sardine-like travel conditions, they will have to pay for it. Next week's Eddington report will highlight the importance of rail to cutting congestion, slashing carbon emissions and keeping the economy moving. It will also increase the pressure on the department that commissioned it, the Treasury, to acknowledge that fare payers must not shoulder the burden of expanding the network alone.