LET'S get on track.

I am a big supporter of Merseyrail these days.

I have lived and worked in London and the Midlands, so I know all about delays and cancellations and those bus replacement nuisances. I dread the phrase 'engineering work'.

Now I hear one forward-looking lady, Kayla Bibby, from Eastham, has devised a cunning futuristic "visionary" plan to take the network into the future.

Merseyrail's forward-looking chief, Liam Robinson, agrees it is something to talk about.

I still happily fill in those survey forms when people with clipboards ask me as I am eating an early morning croissant and reading a paper on a station.

But there is never any room for the great question: "what do YOU really think about the service?"

The timetable schedules are the issue for me.

I do like murals on station walls and artwork, but can we please have more trains when we need them?

I have sat in empty carriages on mid-week afternoons.

After 7pm, the 15-minute service goes half-hourly. Why? We live in a 24/7 world now. So why can't our public transport work accordingly?

I spend a lot of time in the theatres reviewing for this paper on both sides of the river. I want to get home after a show and not sit on a crowded platform.

Not everyone has a car or can afford a late-night cab. Bank Holidays are another pain.

Why make it more difficult for us to see families and friends?

We are approaching summer, so Merseyrail, please look at what is on in the theatres, festivals and put on extra trains.

This is not rocket science but a train of thought set in motion by Ms Bibby – who is just the ticket.

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"I AM delighted" (a phrase every politician uses when they cut ribbons and promote themselves) and very very optimistic that, at last, Birkenhead is getting some TLCC – tender loving council care.

I have always felt that Birkenhead is a like a Dickens character – a combination of Tiny Tim and Oliver Twist – noses pressed up against windows of prosperity.

An urban urchin. Dickens visited the area on his Wirral travels, so he would back that view.

Can Birkenhead First innovators please ensure that what is now promised with £2 million town centre improvements and investment comes to fiscal fruition and that the town is given clear vision and support in the times ahead? So many times projected plans are just all talk.

Council leader Phil Davies must not take his foot off the tram pedal and should ensure that Birkenhead is back on the Merseyside map for good.

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I AM a big fan of un-precious American stars.

I have interviewed Glen Campbell, Andy Williams and Neil Sedaka, all real gents, and wow – Dolly Parton, what a truly lovely lady.

I once worked in a newspaper's American bureau office and was due to talk to crooner Tony Bennett.

Someone shouted over: "Granty, it's Tony Bennett." 

I replied that the phrase is "Gordon Bennett, not Tony."

But, to my surprise, it was the legendary crooner.

He has a policy that HE rings journalists at his time and when he feels like a chat.

How cool is that?

He told me he was looking out of the window looking at the Pacific Ocean drinking fresh Florida orange juice.

I told him I was drinking cold coffee and eating a cupcake.

Tony, 90 this year, told me he was looking forward to playing a concert at Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall.

I told him I bought his song I Left My Heart in San Francisco for my mum Sarah when she was very ill.

There was silence and he said "I would like to meet her" and invited her backstage after the show. He treated mum like royalty that night.

Sheer class.

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AND finally ... I loved the song Manic Monday, written by much-missed Prince.

The Bangles, who sang it, told me he loved it too and was generous with his time with them.

This week, I heard Terence Trent D'Arby said he upset the diminutive star when he did not respond to a telepathic message from his purpleness.

Prince was ahead of his time, but I think he would have been better using Twitter.

Peter Grant