As the Rover’s name suggests, the north of the area ranges from Cardiff and Bristol (close to the Severn) to Swindon and Cheltenham, then extends down to the Southampton area (on the Solent) with a coastal stretch from Portsmouth as far as Weymouth. What’s more, it takes in some fascinating railway centres such as Eastleigh, Salisbury and Westbury.

The Rover offers travel on a variety of express and local passenger services operated by several different train companies, combined with a variety of freight action across the region. This includes the container trains to and from Southampton Docks, steel workings to and from South Wales and stone and aggregate movements from the Mendip Hills.

The author demonstrates the variety of traffic on offer today across this popular Rover ticket area.