I didn't learn to drive until I was over 30 and started as a direct result of a train journey from Darlington to King's cross that was so crowded we couldn't even get to the seats we had reserved. More recently my son reserved a seat on a train to discover the seat didn't physically exist: the seat number on his reserved seat was greater than the highest number in the carriage. On the way back, the previous train had been cancelled so all reservations on his train were also cancelled, even though he'd paid extra for it. No, I don't envy those who have to travel by train either this time of year