Rattle and roll to the endless hum of people

Sydney - great public transport, especially the trains.

Most mornings I get the train and join the streams of commuters making their way across Sydney.

The line I ride heads to Central Station with some passengers travelling a considerable distance from further up the coast, so many are fast asleep.

A few have pillows and blankets and look quite content dozing, although those with their mouths open and snoring clearly don't know or care how it looks to their fellow travellers.

I have noticed on the evening trains that the savvy sleepers set their phones to rouse them prior to their stop so they don't wake up in some distant corner of New South Wales.

My fellow travellers come in all shapes and sizes.

There are construction workers, men in suits, students who look like they have stepped out of a 1960s sitcom, women dressed straight from the pages of fashion magazines and, on occasion, a person who is clearly living rough with their worldly possessions in carrier bags.

I must admit to be being a train fan. There are definite advantages - for a start someone else is driving and they know where they're going so all you have to do is watch the stops as they go by and look out the window at the long lines of mad people in their cars cursing the traffic.

There is also an unrivalled opportunity to do some people watching.

There is something about the motion and sound that makes trains the best way to travel. Along with the rattle and roll there is the hum of people conversing - and in Sydney the mix of language ingredients makes the daily commute a heady experience.

A fair proportion of the train brigade already have their headphones on, happily cocooned in music, while others read but there are still those who insist on talking very loudly on their phones about personal or business matters.

This gets on the nerves because either it is self-important blather or someone slagging off a partner/enemy or recounting drunken exploits.

To avoid this, ride in a designated quiet carriage. These have signs reminding passengers not to use their phones, talk or play loud music.

Note to self: If you have not noticed the sign and are chatting away in a quiet carriage you can bet that someone will come over and very sternly point to the sign telling you in admonishing tones that "this is a quiet carriage".

This is the commuter equivalent of being sent to the principal's office and giggling is frowned upon.

While waiting on a bus from the station one evening, three of us got talking - there was a Kiwi, an Australian and someone from China (it sounds like one of those jokes).

The Aussie was bemoaning the lateness of the bus to which I responded by saying I thought the public transport system in Sydney was pretty good.

The Chinese person said that where she came from there would be a bus every five minutes.

The Australian looked wounded so I pointed out that Sydney has the same population as the whole of New Zealand and so, of course, our public transport system has a smaller base.

The Australian struggled not to look smug but then the Chinese person said the city where she came from has nearly as many people as the whole of Australia. The bus arrived and we all got on conceding that she had won on points.Terry Sarten is a Whanganui writer, musician and social worker currently at large in Sydney - feedback: tgs@inspire.net.nz or www.telsarten.com/