MY rail ministerial schedule is taking me all over the country, with plenty of opportunities to see all sorts of services.

Although passengers boarding at Salisbury, Pewsey or Bedwyn can usually manage to get a seat, I am very aware that many people have to stand or sit on the carriage floor for much of their journey and then get off and do a full day’s work. So this month I went out on some of the most crowded lines to talk to commuters about the challenges of their journey and to provide reassurance that help is on the way. Part of the huge investment in railways over the next five years will mean that more and longer trains can operate; locally our lines will benefit from this investment with more seats into Waterloo (the country’s busiest station), while on trains to Paddington the Government has paid to convert one-and-a-half first class carriages to standard seating so that more people can sit down.

I am also looking to get more women involved in the booming rail industry, especially in the driving seat where the total number of “Casey Janes” in the cabs is still very low at only five per cent of the workforce. I was delighted last week, while out and about in Durrington, to meet a Salisbury-based train driving couple whose daughter was also a train driver!

When I can get off the trains these days I still love to cycle and I am looking forward to joining the ride to raise funds for Horatio’s Garden at the Duke of Cornwall Spinal Treatment Centre in Salisbury on September 21.

I have rashly signed up for the 50-mile loop but there are many other options including a chance to try hand bikes on a one-mile trail around the hospital and we are all assured of plentiful tea and cake regardless of distance travelled.