Tenses

Presenter: And our next caller is Karen. Karen, what's your experience of public transport?

Karen: Yes, hello, Gary. Well, I commuted to London for over ten years. I caught the train every morning at 7.15 to get to work for nine o'clock, and I wouldn't get home until about seven o'clock in the evening. And frankly it was a terrible period of my life, really stressful, mainly because of the unreliability of the train service. I was forever arriving late for work. One day I was travelling home when the train broke down and I eventually got back at midnight. Of course, I had to go to work the next day, so off I went for my 7.15 train. I'd been waiting over an hour when they announced that the train was cancelled. That really was the end for me. I arranged with my employer to work at home and I've been working at home happily for the last five years. Of course it meant a big salary cut, but I haven't regretted it for a moment.

Presenter: Thanks for that, Karen. Can you just stay on the line? I'm hoping we've got Liam on the line. Liam, are you there?

Liam: Yes, I'm here, Gary.

Presenter: Great. And what point do you want to make?

Liam: Well, I just wanted to say that my experience is similar to your last caller, although I'm a newcomer to commuting by public transport. I've just sold my car and now I go to work by bus. I'd owned a car ever since I left college, but I wanted to do my bit to cut down on pollution. But I have to confess that I'm regretting it already. I've arrived late for work twice this week because the bus hasn't turned up on time. It's got so bad that I'm now thinking of buying a motorbike. It'll cause less pollution than a car, and be more reliable than public transport.

Presenter: Well, it sounds like you're another dissatisfied customer, Liam. But we've also got Sahar on the line, and I think she's more positive. Sahar, are you there?

Sahar: I am, Gary, good afternoon.

Presenter: Hello, Sahar, what do you want to tell us?

Sahar: Well, I'd like to put in a good word for train travel. I'm working at home while our office block is being renovated, and while I'm appreciating being able to get up later than usual, I really miss my daily commute. You get to know the people you travel with every day. I remember one day I dropped my purse while I was getting off the train. Another passenger picked it up, found my address in it, and brought it round to my house later that evening. Another time, I'd been working really hard and went to sleep and missed my station. One of the other passengers was getting off at the next station and she had her car parked there. She woke me up and offered me a lift back to my home. I'd spoken to her only a couple of times before then, but now she's a really good friend.

Presenter: Thanks, Sahar. That's a side of commuting we don't often hear about. Now, somebody else who sees the good side of train journeys – Luka. Are you there, Luka?

Luka: Yes, indeed. Actually, I'm phoning from the train on my way home from work.

Presenter: And are you having a good journey?

Luka: Yes, it's been fine. But then I love trains. I've enjoyed travelling by train ever since I was young. I admit that it can be frustrating at times. There are delays and cancellations, and there are minor irritations like poor mobile phone reception – I've been trying to phone in to your programme for the last half hour, in fact – but I catch the 7.05 at the station near my home every morning, and still find there's something quite magical about stepping on to the train. And there are clear advantages over driving, apart from the lack of stress. I reckon that over the years I've saved a huge amount of money by using public transport. I've never really considered buying a car. You can also get a lot of work done. On the train yesterday morning, for example, I'd read a couple of reports and prepared for an important meeting before I even got to work.

Karen: Gary …

Presenter: Karen, were you wanting to say something?

Karen: Yes, I just wanted to pick up Luka's point that travelling by train is less stressful than driving. Public transport can be stressful, too, when trains don't turn up or are delayed. What's less stressful is working at home. At eight o'clock I'm usually having a leisurely breakfast when most people are in their cars or on the train. Yesterday, I'd finished all my work by 2.30, so I drove to the local pool for a swim and today I've been working hard all day, so now I've got time to relax by listening to the radio for a while. Much better than the stress of commuting.

Presenter: You're very lucky, Karen. We've got another caller on the line …