Government pressures see a 5% rise in train fares

As a student myself, I find myself sighing in disappointment at the news Big Boss Corporations want to make it even more difficult for me to get home by rail. I've never gotten round to taking my driving test (I couldn't afford the lessons, let alone a car), so travelling by train in the most obvious choice - it's convenient and it's fast. I'd like to say it's cheap, but let's face it: it's not.
Hearing that the new year will see rail passengers in the North West hit with a 5% increase in rail fares does not make me a happy bunny.
Originally from Liverpool, I have friends dotted across the North of England at several different Unis - Lancaster, Manchester, Sheffield, York etc. I like to think of myself as quite a sociable kind of person, and sometimes, I EVEN like to visit my friends wherever they may be. An increase in what I see as already expensive train fares is going to make visiting my fellow chums, as well as the odd visit home, almost impossible. It also doesn't make me want to use trains. Yes, there are comfortable, and yes, they're very speedy and you get a nice view out the window, but you can now get the Megabus to London for a pound!
Now that's what I call a bargain. Increases in train fares by Virgin (who run the West Coast Main Line), Northern rail, and TransPennine Express last year resulted in some journeys being more expensive than travelling by plane! Now, I'm not suggesting that I'm going to get the bus upto Blackpool Airport and fly home to Liverpool, but it does make you think, doesn't it?
The National Audit Office has said that pressures put on train operators by the Goverment to try and hike up profits from customers will result in fares rising well about inflation. Now it is expected that tickets, including season tickets, will go up by 5.1% in January. I guess that includes my Student Railcard then?
The Government is supposed to be battling climate change, but if shock increases like this continue, then many people are going to find the travelling by car really does work out less cheaper (even the price of petrol is less than a pound now)

Icy times for South Ribble council

News was announced this week that several UK councils have invested their precious pennies into failed Icelandic banks, which have recently squandered under worldwide credit crunch. South Ribble Council was among them, having invested 5 million pounds in an overseas bank, leaving many Preston people angry and annoyed that Government money is being put about so readily without any (prior) cause for concern.
Many people have written letters expressing their views on the matter, including Mr G T Carr of Penwortham who wrote, “I attended the local council meetings in Penwortham from their inception, and some years ago it was revealed that South Ribble council had also invested taxpayers money on the Stock Market.
The BBC’s website also reported this week that, “fears are growing this week that council workers will not be paid this month, as council’s have payrolls tied up in Icelandic banks.
( http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7665683.stm)
It is clear to see that Lancashire residents are none the wiser to where their tax money is really ending up, and even those working for local council’s will be affected by the blunder. The question now stands as to whether local council’s should be given the right to invest taxpayer’s money into foreign banks (which then end up bust), or into something as unpredictable as the Stock Market?