In the good old days in Spain, train fares were set by national rail operator Renfe, with one rate for standard class, one for 'preferente', which is a great word for first, with massive seats as there were only three across a fat Iberian gauge carriage.

And the price was simply calculated per kilometre travelled. Same fare on Christmas Day as on the 13th of February. Affordable, and fairly reliable. And if you arrived more than an hour late on an intercity journey, you just went to the ticket office on arrival, and they handed over x% of your fare in compensation.

What the hell was so wrong with that? Why did they need to meddle with it?

Fuck off indeed!