EVERYWHERE you look, the message is out there – conserve energy and think about being more ‘green’… We have a Green MP in Caroline Lucas, Worcester has a Green councillor in Neil Laurenson, and the debate is raging about how we can harness the environment for ‘alternative’ energy sources.

Yet the roads are still clogged with cars, and we are still struggling to find an acceptable solution to our chronic public transport problem.

I am a commuter – I live in Cheltenham and travel daily to Worcester for work.

At present, I do my bit for the environment with a car-share, which halves the estimated £200 per month fuel costs and also means one less car heading up and down the M5 every morning and evening.

In an ideal world, I would go further – if I could make it work, I would let the train take the strain.

But things are not ideal, as you would know if you have ever tried travelling by train between Cheltenham and Worcester.

The daily cost of a return ticket is currently £10.10, and for a monthly season ticket £169.80 – so my current car share works out cheaper.

Then there is the timetable. For some reason, Worcester is not on the main line, and services are – at best – sporadic.

My working hours are 10am to 6pm. Trains leave Cheltenham for the 25-minute journey to Worcester at 7.25am and 9.48am.

I can either be two hours early, or half an hour late for work – and on the way back, they go at two-hourly intervals, 3pm, 5pm and 7pm.

Of course I do not expect them to mould the timetable around my exact needs, but surely I cannot be the only person who would love to ‘do their bit’ for the environment and find a greener way of getting to work every day?

Yet the biggest debate around train travel is about HS2 – a link between London and the north, which will be out of reach and of little use to the daily commuter like me.

The billions of pounds being earmarked for this elitist scheme could make a difference to commuters like myself – parkway stations, more regular services at convenient times and, ultimately, fewer cars on the motorways and in our cities and towns.

That would help our environment, make us all more healthy and be a real legacy for our children to inherit.