SIR, I have recently moved to the village of Burneside with my family and thought that your readers might like to share my

experiences of public transport to and from Kendal.

I have been using the evening trains to get into Kendal on Saturdays and Sundays but on the last three occasions the conductor has made no attempt to check or sell tickets.

The reason for this becomes apparent once one alights at Kendal because the conductor emerges briefly from the rear of the train to wave it off, only to resume reading his paper as the train pulls away.

At first I thought that this unexpected free ride was just for travellers on the intermediate stations, but I have since learned that it is by no means uncommon for a conductor not to traverse the train all the way from Windermere to Oxenholme.

Now all this free travel is great, but what about when the train operator First North Western tries to reduce or withdraw services, citing falling receipts as the main cause?

However, travellers hoping to avail themselves of this wonderful 'free' service should beware, because this week the train failed to stop at Burneside at all, the driver ignoring my hand signal in spite of having to slow to 5mph for the preceding ungated crossing.

Then, of course, you have the bus.

Or have you? The last bus from the town hall on Saturday and Sunday nights is frequently late and if a driver fails to turn up for his shift, the service is simply abandoned.

Good old Stagecoach!

Never mind as a last (or first) resort you have the taxis and taxis come right to your door don't they? Well not quite, because seemingly the taxi drivers of today went to the same school as the train conductors because when they come to your house they remain glued firmly to their seats and if, as in our case, they can't park in view of our windows, they park at the end of the street rather than come to the door.

My three teenage daughters are frequent taxi users and I have lost count of the number of times they have had to ask me for a lift because the taxi they ordered did not make them aware that he was waiting, preferring instead to drive on to the next fare.

So there you have it.

Free trains, erratic buses and invisible taxis.

Take your choice.

Bon Voyage!

Stephen Roberts

Burneside