Reduced rail fares could be introduced in Sussex on a trial basis, Lewes MP Norman Baker said today.

Mr Baker said he had received a positive response from rail operator Go-Ahead to the request.

He is campaigning for cheaper fares on the Coastway East line and tabled an Early Day Motion in the Commons.

At the same time, he wrote to bosses at the Go-Ahead Rail group.

The MP said people would not catch the train while fares were considerably higher than the cost of travelling by car.

He said this was leading to traffic jams on the A27 and A26 while trains were running with "considerable spare capacity."

Mr Baker claims the peak return rail fare between Polegate and Lewes is £6.50 and that between Lewes and Seaford it is £5, yet the equivalent cost of petrol for the same journeys by road is only about £2.

He told a Commons he had received a promising response from Go-Ahead communications director Martin Walter.

Mr Walter said Mr Baker's estimates were based only on the basic cost of petrol and did not take into account the taxes levied on motorists by the Government.

He claimed train fares offered extremely good value for money.

But he added: "It may be that on that particular route we could look at creating an experimental rail fare to see if the idea works.

"If we were able to introduce this experiment we would probably envisage a three-month trial period."

Mr Baker is planning to hold talks with John Oliver, the firm's business development manager.

During the debate, he said: "There is no doubt in my mind that we are not going to see a renaissance in rail travel on the South Coast unless we see a cut in rail fares."

Mr Baker, who was joined at the debate by Sussex MPs Charles Hendry, Gregory Barker and David Lepper, outlined a host of other measures needed to improve rail travel.

He called for the re-instatement of the Uckfield to Lewes line and the reinstatement of the Polegate to Pevensey link.

He also wants a new station to be built at Newhaven to replace the three existing ones.

He also called for the South Coast Multi-Modal Study to pay specific attention to the role reduced rail fares could have in reducing road congestion.