What can £4.95 get you? A McDonalds (yuck), a new wardrobe at New Look (yuck) and an adult and child return to Chester from Liverpool Central with Merseyrail run by our good friends Arriva (yuck).

I have to say I was pleasantly suprised when the moody ticket man barked the fare for me and my niece to travel to Chester for a day out (look, I was desperate, OK?).

I paid the fare and was thrown 4 little orange cards through the hole in the bullet proof box.

As anybody who travels by train through Liverpool Central (run by Arriva/Merseytravel), it isn't the cleanest of places. However, the conditions I was expected to travel in today were appualing.

The train pulled in, and there was a mass of magazines, bits of newspaper, spilt milk, half eaten pasties, plastic bags strewn accross the carrage. And so I moved to the next carrage, which wasn't much better but at least didn't have the smell of stale urine wafting through. the seats were splatted with oil, and my Dad, who got the train to work in the 1950-1970s tells me that the pattern of the seat covering was the same. Minus of course the patches of different coloured material hastily sewn on where someone had slashed the seats.

We did have a great day at Chester (honest), just a shame it ended so badly...

First North Western run a very frequent City Rail link shuttle bus free to all rail passengers to cut the long walk from the City Centre to the Station (which I have to say is excellent). Trains run every half hour to Liverpool Central.

Chest Railway Station is an absolute disgrace. It is dark, gloomy, dirty, smelly, dangerous and old fashioned. And so you can imagine my feelings when the departure screen told me that the 16.50 had been delayed 10 minutes, meaning I'd have to spend half an hour on the wooden bench soaked in McDonald's milkshake, tea, oil and other substances which I dread to concider.

16.55 and the Bingo-caller
style voice booms out that the Merseyrail service has been delayed, and the next train was due at 20 past five. The fair amount of passengers where angry.

But this crowd multiplied at least 4 times over when the 17.20 finally pulled in, and I had to stand in the filthy train for all of the journey (50mins).

The conducter was more interested in fining a teenager with obvious learning difficulties over 25p than answering up to the unacceptable state of affairs.

No wonder the rail service is on it's knees, and I only hope something is done with Arriva Trains Merseyside (merseyrail Electrics) before something seriously goes wrong.