LAST week, I wrote about my disappointment of the much-promoted Wi-Fi at Bolton Station not working properly.

But sometimes the internet — and particularly social media — can come in handy when travelling around on trains.

A few days ago, I enjoyed reading the story of the Virgin Trains passenger who put Twitter possibly the best use ever.

With the train in motion on a journey between London and Glasgow, 16-year-old Adam Greenwood went to use the toilet and then discovered there was no loo roll.

But young Adam was clever enough to think outside the box...and Tweeted Virgin Trains for assistance.

Virgin Trains replied, asking which coach he was in and — hey presto — a member of train crew came to the rescue, armed with loo roll.

In recent years, just about every UK rail operator has not only set up a Twitter account, but also made a real effort to use it as a customer service offering for the 21st century.

Northern, which runs the most services through Bolton, does this extremely well and even gets its staff to introduce themselves by name at the start of their shifts.

Between 6am and 10pm on Mondays to Saturdays and between 8am and 8pm on Sundays, customers can send messages to these staff and get almost instant replies on everything from rail punctuality, engineering works and whether particular trains have Wi-FI.

Train operators' websites have also come on leaps and bounds in recent years and I can only see these companies further utilising the World Wide Web as time goes on, benefitting from the instant customer feedback they often get.

Like on the London Underground, it would be good to have free Wi-Fi for most passengers at most stations across the North West rail network and on trains, with more widespread phone and tablet charging points.

It is great that operators are stepping up to the technological challenge and long may it continue.