When National Express took over the east coast train line with great fanfare in December, there were empty promises about "stimulating demand on the rail network".
As a Scot living in London, I used to enjoy taking the train home twice a month but now find peak rail fares prohibitively more expensive than flying – and the trains overcrowded.
Despite booking two months in advance, I have never been able to
book an elusive "discount ticket" and have had to opt for cheaper air fares.
Rail minister Tom Harris may have got it wrong when he defended the National Express deal on Radio Four's Today programme last August, saying: "I don't buy this idea that people are being priced off the railways; the very opposite is actually happening. The whole deal is very good news not just for passengers but for the taxpayer".
Richard Bowker, the chief executive of National Express, was nearer the mark in his comments to the Telegraph: "We have won a bid which is ambitious, deliverable and structured to generate shareholders value." He failed to mention this would be achieved at the expense of passengers.
DANIEL AITKENHEAD
Fulham Road
London It's generous of Colin C MacLean (Letters, 6 August) to support First ScotRail's 158s. These trains, the poorest long-distance rolling stock in Europe – and whose attractiveness and comfort ranks with that of a 1950s Soviet tower bock – need all the support possible.
I travel from Aberdeen to Inverness monthly, and I'm only too acquainted with the existing 158s and the updated versions. Imagine any railway company having to remove seats to make way for luggage. Why wasn't luggage space designed into them on the drawing board? Why did First ScotRail ever acquiesce in accepting such poor-quality trains?
The refurbished 158s yield not a millimetre of extra legroom that I can find, and the first-class section remains a through corridor at all times.
It really isn't good enough that Scotland as a European nation relies on second-rate stock for long-distance services. Our rail aspirations have to rise higher.
GORDON CASELY
Beaconsfield Place
AberdeenThe full article contains 358 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
