something to declare

"In Italy, no one grows up wanting to be a train driver" - advertisement for the Fiat Coupe

"Italians have always preferred cars to trains", trills the copy for this pounds 20,000 car. However, faced with the option of taking this 16- valve turbocharged chariot for a spin, people might opt for the safer environment of the Italian State Railways rather than the battle zone of the autopista. The fares are low, too, a consequence of a government that believes public transport should be encouraged.

The strongest reason for preferring the train to the car, though, has to do with speed. Italy's crack express, the ETR 450, cannot compete with the Fiat Coupe in terms of acceleration, but its top speed of 130mph is way above Italy's legal limit. The manufacturer cannot be very proud of it, though, judging by its advertising copy. The maker of the train is Fiat. If no one wants to be a train driver, who do they get to run the railway, then?

Students, tell us about your travel this summer - and win a trip to Sydney. The 1995 Student Travel Writing competition is under way. Simply write a pacy page or two - no more than 500 words - on a single incident in your travels this summer, on the subject "A misunderstanding".

Entries should be sent to the Student Travel Writing Competition, The Independent, One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5DL by 14 October. Usual Newspaper Publishing rules apply. Entrants must be full-time students aged under 25 on 1 September 1995 and enrolled at UK universities or colleges. Entries must be original and must not have been published elsewhere.

The prizes

1st: Campus Travel will provide the winner with two tickets to Sydney. The winner will be equipped with the new edition of the Rough Guide to Australia, to be published in October.

2nd: Campus Travel will provide two Young Europe Special air passes, each with four coupons, for use next summer. These allow extensive travel on the Lufthansa network within Europe and beyond. The runner-up also gets the forthcoming updated Rough Guide to Prague.

3rd: Ten prizes of the new Rough Guide to Venice, published in November.