If you’ve ever been stuck in a traffic jam or found your stress levels rising behind the wheel, then you’ll probably share the following sentiment:

“Road traffic is becoming increasingly hellish on this crowded island.”

Too true, you might say.

You might also think this is a sensible policy approach:

“Forget motor cars, get rid of anxiety.”

If either of those comments struck a chord, then you may be surprised to learn that the views were not expressed by an Extinction Rebellion protester or a Green party campaigner and they weren’t expressed this week, this month or even this year.

The lines come from poet, writer and broadcaster Sir John Betjeman and they formed part of a broadcast first shown in … 1963.

Yes, 56 years ago in the year I was born.

They are part of a documentary on the railway line which ran from Evercreech Junction to Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset.

Among the other gems in the documentary are these lines which rang a chord with me:

“Railways are bound to be used again – they’re not a thing of the past.”

“I think it’s more than likely that we’ll deeply regret the branch lines we’ve torn up and the lines we’ve let to go to rot.”

How prophetic were his words.

In 2015 the Borders Railway from Edinburgh to Tweedbank reopened 46 years after the last trains ran in 1969.

And the disused line to Levenmouth in Fife is also to reopen to passengers.

There is a wider campaign to reopen disused railway lines across Great Britain as the case is made for cleaner, greener and stress-free travel.

Trains aren’t the panacea for all transport problems and the privatised system leaves a lot to be desired on occasions. But I’d take train travel over cars whenever possible and practical.

And I tip my hat to Sir John Betjeman for his wise words.