Virgin Trains has today launched a major national campaign advertising cheap tickets after revealing only 58 per cent of passengers thought they were getting value for money.

Following a report by the Commons Transport Committee, which stated that "fares structures are chaotic and pricing absurd", Virgin is kick-starting a its campaign to communicate its clear pricing of fares.

In fact, despite the widely-held opinion that travelling by train is more costly than other modes of transport such as flying or by car, there is widespread availability of cheap, value-for-money tickets.

Buying a ticket for travel with Virgin Trains is now simplicity in itself. Following the switch-on of a new website, prospective passengers are presented with the cheapest advance purchase - or walk-up - fares which are available for the journey and at the time of their choice. No longer are all fares shown, irrespective of whether they are available or not.

In a separate development, passengers who are unable to but a Virgin Advance ticket for both the outward and return journeys, or want flexibility on one leg of the journey, are now able to mix and match ticket types and buy a Saver Half Return (at half the price of a Saver Return) for one leg of the journey. This money saving facility is available to website bookings only.

There is still a perception that rail fares are expensive and a recent survey by watchdog Passenger Focus revealed that only 58pc of rail passengers using Virgin Trains services felt they were getting value for money.

Contrary to these passenger perceptions, Virgin Trains releases an average of 50,000 Value Advance tickets every day. Many of these heavily discounted tickets can be bought up to 6pm the day before travel. These tickets already sell at the rate of one every two-and-a-half seconds! And the Value Advance ticket range starts from just £9 single.

However, research shows that around 20pc of these tickets are going unsold, meaning some rail passengers are paying more than they need to.

Virgin is also intending to extend the trail of a brand new e-ticketing system - print@home.

Virgin Trains Commercial Director, Graham Leech, explains: "We're committed to providing a high-quality, value-for-money service to our customers, but with around 10,000 Value Advance fares left unsold every day, it's clear that many of our passengers, and potential passengers, are still unaware of how much they could be saving.

"We want to show people how to find the best value tickets available and how easy it really is to book, particularly online."

The simplification of the Virgin Trains website has been praised by Passenger Focus. Chief Executive Anthony Smith said: "There are some great deals on fares out there, but many passengers are telling us that the current ticketing system is too complicated to navigate.

"There is a clear need to simplify the way tickets are sold to help passengers take advantage of the cheaper tickets. Any move to simplify websites is a step in the right direction."