In article ,
Richard wrote:
One of the reasons for long-distance commuting (by car or train) is that
two
people wish to live together (e.g husband and wife) but wish to follow
separate careers, and so find themselves working in very different
locations. One (or both) has to commute.

They don't have to. They choose to. There's no gun to their heads.

Or in my case because my job involves travelling round the country training
people.

There are other jobs. Vegetarians who take jobs in abatoirs don't get
taken terribly seriously.

No one location would be close to all my workplaces. I happen to live
within walking distance of the WCML but it should not be the case that only

``Happen to live''. Didn't you think about proximity to a railway line
when choosing somewhere to live? I did.

a subset of the country's housing stock is suitable for travel by public
transport

Really? Public transport within walking distance of every house? How
are you going to pay for it?

public transport should be extended to provide access to as many
people as is economically viable.

So that's a subset, then. And what makes you think it isn't _already_
extended to as many people as is economically viable?

ian