Britain's railways cost £11.61 billion in 2011/12, a new report by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has discovered.

Although this was up by 2.9 per cent on the previous year, the organisation revealed that costs actually decreased by 2.1 per cent once inflation was taken into account.

The study also suggested that the railways are becoming less reliant on taxpayers' money, as passenger fares accounted for 57.6 per cent of the industry's income in 2011/12 - up from 55.8 per cent in 2010/11. Government funding contributions were down by 1.8 per cent over the 12-month period.

That said, there were stark regional variations, as £2.27 of each journey made in England came from public subsidy. This figure rose to £7.67 in Scotland and £9.15 in Wales.

ORR chief executive Richard Price said it is important to scrutinise this data to ensure the proposed £37.5 billion investment in rail infrastructure between 2014 and 2019 is affordable.

The government has also recently unveiled plans for a hugely ambitious multi-billion pound high-speed rail network that links London to the Midlands and the north of England.