Last week my reserved train seat was in the little compartment at the front of the train just behind the driver. This meant my fellow passengers (about a dozen of us) had a terrific view of the train simply eating up the distance as the sun rose.

I have never before sat in one of these seats so I really enjoyed it. I don’t think it was a particularly fast piece of track although it was fast enough that sometimes things would whizz past in the middle distance before you had worked out if it was a shed or a cow. I especially enjoyed floating past the traffic on the autobahn situated alongside us: I found myself feeling extremely smug about that!

Still, I do find myself caught up in the opportunities for train travel in Europe. While my initial expectations were perhaps a little romantic and tinged with the drama of too many Agatha Christie novels as a child, I still find them endlessly convenient and valuable.

How indeed shall we cope when we return to Australia and find that the journey from Melbourne to Perth is a ridiculous SIX DAYS and costs an outrageous $1,700 AUD. Not only that, but these are special services – there is no regular rail service operating at such distances. Even the Melbourne – Sydney train takes thirteen hours !

I’d love to have our great big stupid country all connected with lovely railways running past (and faster!) than the highways.