Working as a journalist means I occasionally get the opportunity to travel around the country. Last week, I headed to Glasgow with news editor Ian Morris to visit colleagues working on our Scottish sister papers.

Needless to say we had a hearty welcome from our friends north of the border but it was our planning for the long trip that set me thinking.

We were given the option of either driving up there or taking the train. Colleagues of mine will not be surprised that I was all in favour of traveling by rail. Being a country boy, I am never keen to drive in a city: I’m much more comfortable with the challenges of rural roads such as overtaking tractors and safely negotiating my way around horses.

Traveling through the beautiful country scenery of the borders, I began to question whether we had made the right decision to take the train. It’s certainly more environmentally friendly and makes less of an impact on your carbon footprint.

And it’s a much safer form of transport but how many people could afford the £115 train fare from Hereford to Glasgow?

Without wishing to put the boot into the train companies, it’s a real shame that fares aren’t lower. Lower fares would mean more rail passengers which would take more traffic off the roads. This in turn would have a positive environmental impact and would decrease the risk of road accidents.

Isn’t the government forever telling us to take public transport? Why then is the money they make from fuel tax not re-invested to help people travel more cheaply by rail? Surely such an approach has to be a win-win situation.