It gives the timetables of buses, for instance, serving Abingdon from Didcot, Bude from Exeter, Lyneham from Swindon, Helston from Redruth, Launceston from Plymouth, Mevagissey from St Austell, Ysttradgynlais from Swansea and others. There are also details of add-on fares for Bristol, Gloucester, Neath, Newbury, Port Talbot, Reading, Slough, Swindon, Taunton, Torbay and Weston-super-Mare, and how you can buy rail tickets with bus add-ons by phone (0845 700 0125).

The weakness is that although there is a 24-hour national inquiry number for rail services (08457 484950), for details of bus services, you have to contact the bus company concerned. Many do not provide information in the evening or at weekends yet feel free to change their timetables at short notice.

Train taxi guide

What stops many people taking the train is the problem of how to get from the rail station to their final destination – often just a few miles away. This new 60-page traintaxi guide lists every station in Great Britain and tells you which have taxi ranks or cab offices.

For every train, metro and underground station, the guide gives two or three names and telephone numbers of taxi firms. The traintaxi guide is available for £4.75 from W H Smith and other bookshops. It is also available for sale from www.bookshop.co.uk or by sending a cheque for £4.75 (payable to Traintaxi Ltd) to Traintaxi, PO Box 366, Peterborough PE3 6QH