I TRAVELLED to London by train the other week, shortly before the crash near Selby. Never again. The train pulled into Darlington on time, which was a positive start, but a computer problem at Newcastle meant there were no seat reservations. And then we were told that because of hot water difficulties, there would be no trolley service.

Practically every seat was taken and people were standing in the doorways. The queue to the buffet snaked a long way back. Rather than barge my way back to the doorway I was standing in, no doubt spilling my coffee everywhere, I found an unoccupied seat and sat down.

It was first class - or so the polite inspector told me. There wasn't a sign anywhere, but rules are rules and must be obeyed. Myself and a handful of others were told we had to stand back in second class.

Three hours later, I was on my way home. It was even worse. As we left King's Cross, the toilets were already overflowing. The carriages were also overflowing - with people - and again I had to stand. It only needed a few people to be hanging off the outside of the train and the third world picture would have been complete. Never again.

It is cheaper and cleaner to go by car. I know I'm guaranteed a seat, I can stop for a toilet break or a coffee whenever I want. It is even becoming cheaper to go by car: yesterday's Budget dropped petrol prices and road tax and, because people like me have been campaigning about new car prices in Britain, it is becoming more affordable for families to buy a second car.

On Tuesday, it was announced that car sales rose by 7.3 per cent last month.Yet the Government says it wants us back on public transport. I cannot understand this for, despite what it says, it is doing everything it can to entice us back onto the roads.

BUT, of course, the roads aren't ideal. I've lost count of the number of people who have spoken to me recently about being caught speeding.

One woman said she'd been caught as she came over a brow of a hill - a trap seemingly designed to catch the motorist whose speed was momentarily rising, having crested the hill. Another told me that he went to police headquarters to check the video because he didn't believe he was doing 35mph in a 30mph zone.

The one thing that all these people say is: "Why are the police doing this? Is it road safety? Or is it income generation?"

Perhaps we are naturally cynical, but most think it is down to income generation. This perception is clearly not helping the police because they can only do their job by the consent of the public.

I might be suspended from the police - and I certainly am not immune from speeding - but I support this police tactic. Making our communities safer is about a whole host of issues, not just driving crime from our streets. Road safety is one.

But the police are failing to get their safety message across and their image is being damaged. The money they are collecting from all these speed cameras should go into traffic-calming measures to prevent everyone from speeding, and this would prove to the public that the intention of the police is purely road safety and not income generation.

FINALLY, on the transport theme, I had the misfortune to watch You've Been Framed this week. It included clips about people having accidents riding bikes.

These didn't just result in a bump or a bruise. There were people toppling over handlebars and being dragged across gravel. It wasn't funny, although host Lisa Riley thought it hysterical. The audience reaction was interesting: there were only half-hearted laughs, because people knew they had to be seen to be enjoying themselves.

I'm afraid a programme as sick as You've Been Framed is one I will not watch again - just as I will not patronise a service as ailing as our railway.

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