 PLUMMETING air fares have left Merseyside rail passengers paying more for a weekend break to London than for a flight to a top European holiday destination. Green campaigners last night called on the Government to help make trains more affordable, and start ensuring air fares reflect the damage planes do to the environment. A standard walk-on fare to travel to London from Liverpool Lime Street is £189, although Virgin Trains insists cheaper fares are available on some services, with even lower fares if booked in advance. But new prices will take effect from next week, meaning the cost of a return ticket for use on any service will pass through the £200 mark to £205 for the first time. Already, a £59.70 "saver" return which allows passengers to travel on off-peak trains, is now more expensive than some flights out of Liverpool John Lennon Airport. Two annual above-inflation rises in train tickets mean rail tickets to London often exceed the cost of many plane journeys to European destinations. Easyjet and Ryanair, which both encourage passengers to book early to secure the best deals, were offering return fares, including taxes, to more than a dozen European destinations for a fraction of the cost on a train trip to London, even if bought on the day of the flight. For a weekend break leaving on December 8, the Daily Post was quoted £189 to travel from Lime Street. That meant booking - and travelling - on the same day by Easyjet to Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, or Nice would have been cheaper. A spokesman for Virgin Trains said: "The £189 fare is the standard fare which allows passengers to use any of our services but there are other, lower fares available. "If people book in advance, they can pay as little as £12.50 single." Trying to book in advance to get one of Virgin's discount deals, a weekend break leaving on January 5 to London from Lime Street was being offered at £59.70 on industry website thetrainline.com Travelling on the same day, Ryanair offered Barcelona for £34, Dublin for £31, Oslo for £32 and Pisa for £41. Skiers heading for the slopes can also travel to Salzburg for £32.81. | 
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