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For thousands of commuters the idea that a railway journey in Britain can be ‘great’ will seem completely ridiculous.

After all, the railway system in the UK is no better than that of a developing nation in pockets, with passengers paying extortionate prices to ride on decrepit trains. Not to mention crippling strikes on Southern that have inflicted misery on the population in the south-east.

But Michael Portillo is here once more to show us that there are actually plenty of mesmerising trips to be had on the UK’s trains with a new series of Great British Railway Journeys on BBC Two. And he underscored to MailOnline Travel that despite the railways’ bad press there is one thing we definitely get right – the stations.

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Michael Portillo is here once more to show us that there are plenty of mesmerising trips to be had on the UK’s trains with a new series of Great British Railway Journeys on BBC Two

Which is a start.

He said: ‘Well, we’re behind in many ways. We don’t have nearly as much electrification or nearly as much high-speed rail as some of our European partners and China and Japan, but I do think our stations score very highly.

‘And the restoration of stations is progressing very very well. Edinburgh Waverley has recently been restored and London King’s Cross is an absolute gem. Reading has recently been rebuilt and Bristol Temple Meads is under way.

‘And the secret for most of them is to strip away all the clutter and get back to the basic Victoria structure, which in my view you can’t beat.

‘And that is happening in a lot of railway stations. We now have a new-found respect for what was there originally. So I think that stations of Britain are a joy.’

Michael Portillo describes London King's Cross (pictured) as an 'absolute gem'

So there are glimmers of hope amidst the gloom – and if you’re a tourist thinking of travelling Britain by rail there are certainly plenty of wonderful journeys to take, too, as Mr Portillo’s show reveals.

But he picks out one in particular for MailOnline readers – the sleeper train from London to Scotland.

He said: ‘I would recommend travelling on the West Highland line between Glasgow and Mallaig, passing through Fort William. And I would particularly recommend, if the tourist has arrived in London, getting on the night sleeper from Euston, and waking up on Rannoch Moor.

Mr Portillo said that he's very much looking forward to HS2 - but he's pictured here on a somewhat slower mode of transport... a pump trolley at Nene Valley Station 

‘It’s absolutely fantastic. If you go up for the weekend, particularly in summer, if it was the longest day, you could get off at Fort William and be eating haggis and drinking whiskey and enjoying the Highlands for three hours of the journey in the daylight.

‘It’s a fantastic journey.’

In the future, if all goes according to plan, other fantastic journeys will become available, according to Mr Portillo.

He said: ‘I’m immensely looking forward to the electrification of the Great Western Railway. I think it’s very strange that two capital cities, London and Cardiff, are not joined by an electric railway.

‘Anywhere else in Europe and that would be thought very strange.

‘I recently attended the inauguration of the Oxford to Marylebone service and that promises to be a part of an Oxford to Cambridge railway… so I’m hugely looking forward to that.

‘I am personally very much looking forward to Crossrail in London. It’s going to be transformative. And I can’t wait for HS2.’

Mr Portillo stressed that it’s high-speed rail that will help Britain make the most of its glorious Victorian infrastructure.

He said: ‘No one is a bigger admirer of the Victorian infrastructure than I am. I think realistically you need some 21st century infrastructure as well. And as I’ve travelled through France and Spain and Italy and Germany, they’re all countries that have turned to high speed rail. And I don’t believe Britain can turn its back on it.’

• The new series of Great British Railway Journeys will air on BBC Two, weekdays at 6.30pm, starting on Monday January 2. The first episode sees Mr Portillo board the legendary Flying Scotsman.