I suggest that those trolling read the entire report, rather than selective quotes.

"KIM HOWELLS, the outspoken Transport Minister, says that trainspotters are a menace, accusing Britain's army of rail enthusiasts, made up mainly of men over 40, of distorting decision-making about transport in Britain.

"There are 150,000 people employed in the rail industry and at least 200,000 registered trainspotters, and they have enormous influence on transport policy," he said. "Rail use accounts for only 7 per cent of transport but 95 per cent of transport politics."

Speaking yesterday at a Fabian Society seminar, he expressed sympathy for the millions of car drivers who rarely, if ever, catch trains but see far more of their taxes spent on rail than on roads.

"We put huge amounts of money into railways but the tax is taken from people who mostly never travel on railways," he said.

Dr Howells launched a tirade against a member of the Railfuture lobby group at the seminar for saying that the railways needed more money.

The minister said: "I disagree with possibly everything you have said. This is precisely the trainspotter mentality coming through here. We spend much more in public funds on railways than we do on roads."

He also said that cars were greener than trains."

Mind you I am surprised that anyone takes the Murdoch owned Times as a serious newspaper.

Gareth