Are rail fares in the UK unfairly priced?

The cost of catching a train whether for business or pleasure is increasing year on year. I am often quite shocked by the cost of travelling by train when looking up journeys to different cities in the UK and find it appalling that this method of transport can reach such high prices. Public transport is a great way to bring down pollution to the environment as a means of shared transport. If we can all travel via train or bus, the number of individual journeys made in cars would go down which surely is brilliant news for the environment. Personally, when making longer journeys I would travel by rail in most instances if the cost is affordable. However, if there is more than one person travelling, nine times out of ten it is considerably cheaper to travel by car to split fuel costs. This is negative to the environment, but with such substantial differences in cost - the lower priced drive will win every time. Consequently, I believe the rail fares are unfairly priced, and should be brought down much lower to encourage the use of public transport, to help reduce pollution levels.