Since moving to Brighton five years ago, I have lived quite happily without a car, getting around on foot, bicycle, bus and train.

Most amenities and my work are less than half an hour's travel away, especially if I use a combination of bike and rail.

So it was with some dismay I read in The Argus (April 20) that the new generation of South Central trains is to have no provision for bikes (existing provision on Thameslink trains is already pretty scant).

Now The Argus tells me Network cards will not be valid for fares under £10 after June. So much for the supposed savings from the free extra three months offered to railcard users to make up for all the delays last year.

Moves such as these by the rail operators only encourage regular users such as myself to think of using a car instead.

As Brighton and Hove councillor Rik Child put it: "This will obviously undermine train use and force people back on to the roads, clogging them up even more."

British fares are already some of the most expensive in the world and British roads among the most congested.

To encourage greater rail use and reduce pollution, fares should be coming down, not going up, and cyclists should be encouraged, not excluded

-Jamie Crawford, Dewe Road, Brighton