Ever tried booking a rail fare around midnight, two nights before you intend to travel?

That would seem to be the cut off point between your striking a good deal (or at best, these days, a cost roughly comparable with what you'd spend on fuel alone should you decide to drive instead), and having the piss taken out of you and your bank account.

If you book using the First Great Western website around this crucial time, it's remarkable how many distractions you encounter.

Not only does this seem to be the time the website experiences its most frequent technical errors...

... but it also seems to be at its slowest to process the simplest of requests (like train times and, erm, fare calculations) - plus, it makes up new rules as you go. I'd never seen this one before…

… and how strange I didn't see it when making the same request after midnight...

Anything, it seems, to delay you beyond midnight, when your fare miraculously shoots up to a sky high price - and the site just as miraculously becomes as user-friendly as every other website in the land that's not using foul tactics to try and mercilessly rip you off.

The pricing of rail fares, even in its new 'simplified' form, is badly in need of review. Not only is it ludicrous that fares are so high that many of us end up driving long distances to cut the cost, but the inconsistency of fares is enough to outrage even the most insistent of rail travellers (like me), and needs to be addressed.

A few weeks ago, some good friends of mine managed to enjoy a weekend mini-break in a plush Bristol hotel, plus driving costs of fuel, wear and tear etc., all for less than the price of a day return by train from Oxford to Bristol. On Sunday, I'll be making a journey whose price is cut by 25% if I step off the train at Tiverton Parkway and immediately jump back on the same train with a different ticket. Is it me?

Whilst privatisation brought many benefits to the railways of the UK, the arrogance of many operators nowadays - in everything from fares to the amount of seats and luggage space they provide on their key services - has reached a point where we're no longer really encouraging people to travel by train. Many more would, if they could. But for long distances, the railways have become a privileged way of travelling, a luxurious alternative to the motor car for those with the money to do it - or else the good fortune and tenacity to have been able to book in advance of the midnight curfew.

I was appalled with the First Great Western website this evening, and insisted I get my tickets for the price I was offered before the many technical glitches. I suggest you do the same next time you book – if you can afford the time, that is.