When Heathrow Express trains start running, there will be two railways to the world's busiest airport which cannot carry full-size British trains. The other of course is LT's Piccadilly line.
Unfortunately the new 332 class trains which BAA has bought from Siemens/Bombardier to provide Heathrow Express services cannot run on the rest of the British network.
By contrast, at the time the 332s were being ordered, the Royal Mail ordered dual-voltage 325 class trains which can go virtually anywhere. If Royal Mail got it right, why did BAA get it so wrong?
The Heathrow Express tunnel cannot even accept the latest 165 or 166 Turbo diesel trains which could have brought passengers from Birmingham and Milton Keynes to the airport, let alone any other British train.
Even Thameslink 319 trains are barred even though they were designed for tunnel use.
Nor can Heathrow take trains from the North London line, the Metropolitan via Paddington, the District via Earl's Court or the South London via Kensington Olympia. It looks as though the Heathrow Express Act was rigged to provide a monopoly. If that was so, it is outrageous.
Lyndon Elias, 10 Sandringham Road, Didcot OX11 8TP
I regularly travel from Bath to Nottingham and I am increasingly worried about the connection problems at Derby. I have experienced more problems than usual this year, sometimes missing my Nottingham train by only a couple of minutes. There seems to be no co-operation between the rail providers.
Virgin Trains now run the Bristol-Derby InterCity trains and it is their policy to delay the train at Birmingham to await another of their own trains from Bournemouth. This of course has caused problems with my connection at Derby and adds 40 minutes to my journey.
The attitude of Virgin Trains staff to ticket holders going through to destinations not served by Virgin is not encouraging. Have other passengers had similar problems?
Rosemary Sansome, 7 Hungerford Road, Lower Weston, Bath BA1 3BU
I write in some measure of disgust at the decision of train operating companies to increase the cost of the Network Card ÷ from £14 to £20 and also to restrict travel out of London between 1600 and 1930.
This heavy-handed decision will yet again persuade people not to travel by train and put more pressure on to our already overcrowded roads. What on earth is the logic, when I thought rail privatisation was supposed to give more choice ÷ and actively encourage rail use, I was clearly misled or misunderstood what choice meant.
Geoffrey Heathcock, 52 Queen Edith's Way, Cambridge CB1 4PW
New promotional fares are posing an insidious threat to network benefits. In BR days, I could buy a cheap and flexible Saver or SuperSaver ticket from my home town of Ellesmere Port to any station in the country.
Fares from my local station were similar to those from nearby main-line stations, encouraging the fullest use of the network.
Saver tickets are now escalating in price and are being heavily undercut by products like Shuttle Advance, Times Rail Offer or "four for the price of one" tickets. These inflexible tickets are only available from main line stations such as Liverpool or Crewe.
Even first class passengers cannot book a discounted Business Advance ticket from Ellesmere Port to London.
Pre-booked airline-style tickets are becoming the predominant cheap-travel product and seriously discourage the use of local connecting services.
There are no cheap return tickets from local to main line stations valid for more than a day. Crewe is the only station in Cheshire with through tickets to the continent via Eurostar but passengers wishing to use connecting services from Ellesmere Port must pay an additional £13+ standard return fare.
Many no doubt will travel by car instead. And in the new railway era, who will pay for your taxi home if delays cause you to miss your last local connection and you don't have a through ticket?
Pete Zemroch, Ellesmere Port.
My wife and I used the UK rail system extensively over three weeks, covering about 1,500 miles and using the services of six different operators.
We have lived in Holland for the past six months, so this was the first time we had travelled such distances since the completion of privatisation, and it was interesting to look for changes in the level of service.
We used the excellent airlink coach service between Heathrow and Reading. But we were disappointed with our return train journey because of a mix-up over our reserved seats.
Travel between Swansea and Milford Haven (South Wales and West Railway Ltd) was very good. I think the service has probably improved since privatisation, since this was always a terrible journey in the past.
We used the ScotRail sleeper service between London and Fort William, which was generally good. The train departed from a different platform to the sleeper lounge, meaning we had to drag our luggage across Euston station. Surely it would not be that difficult to arrange for the train to leave from the same platform!
The Jacobite steam train between Fort William and Mallaig was probably the best journey of all. It departed and arrived on time, and conveyed us in comfort. Doesn't say much for 60 years of progress!
But back in England, at Chorley (North West Regional Railways Ltd), the ticket machine at Preston was broken.
The ticket office told us it was "the property of Regional Railways, not my responsibility as I work for Virgin".
By coincidence we sat next to a Regional Railways manager on the train, who promptly phoned the station to sort it out.
Apparently Virgin (which operates Preston station) has an agreement to look after the Regional Railways ticket machines. Sounds like a typical case of "passing the buck" to me!
The worst journey of all was Preston to London (Virgin West Coast). The air conditioning in our carriage was defective, and the train was an hour late into Euston.
We received no explanation at all until we actually arrived in London. Apparently it was all Railtrack's fault. Considering that we used the flagship service (the Royal Scot, non-stop between Preston and London) we were extremely unimpressed. So, all in all, I saw no real improvements at all in most of the services, although some encouraging signs in one or two.
Dr Brian Whitehead, Department of NMR Spectroscopy, University of Utrecht, Netherlands
Email: brian@nmr.chem.ruu.nl
In the past rail campaigners have fought hard even to maintain the status quo, to protect existing rail users.
If we are to reduce pollution, habitual car users will have to be won over to rail.
Rail operators will have to provide extra services and facilities, rather than rely on the minimalist approach to service.
Car drivers will need up-to-date, reliable, easily understood information, preferably in their own homes, via the internet perhaps.
Rail services should be publicised on TV and even on the garage forecourt, rather than the railway station.
Rail operators will need to concentrate on how to reduce overall journey times, by improving connections for instance, to rival the door-to-door car journey.
Transport information should be integrated so that door-to-door journeys can be offered even if they involve using other modes. Information technology offers possibilities.
Rail interchanges should be upgraded and linked to other forms of transport.
Cleanliness of stations, trains and staff, as well as personal safety, is very important, particularly for women and at night. It is already improving.
There are now greater opportunities for the railways than there have been for many years. We must make certain they are not missed.
Arthur Sancto, 8 Roxby Way, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 9AX
I hope depty Prime Minister John Prescott will consider setting up a passenger transport authority for Wales so that an efficient, integrated road and rail system can be developed. He already has the legal powers.
The PTA could investigate reinstating passenger services on our many freight-only lines, particularly the Vale of Glamorgan line which could provide a direct link to Cardiff international airport.
Mervyn Matthews, Stonewalls, 5a Broadway, Cowbridge, Vale of Glamorgan CF71 7ER.
Great North Eastern Railway should not be using buses to compete with the railway operator which already runs a regular train service between Grimsby and Doncaster. But because the GNER bus/rail fares to London is only £20, I will certainly consider using it. The Supersaver fare to go by rail for the complete journey is more than twice as much ÷ £44.
Yet all is not lost. Many new customers will be attracted to the railway thanks to the bus and a cheap fare. The new fare has been heavily promoted, particularly by leaflets distributed with Grimsby's free paper.
Perhaps the Grimsby-Doncaster-Sheffield rail service should be promoted by special fare offers.
Tim Mickleburgh, 33 Littlefield Lane, Grimsby, Lincs DN31
You can email Railwatch editor Ray King at editor@railwatch.org.uk (or just click on this link), e-mail Deltic Design with comments about the Railwatch Web pages, or visit their web site.
RiscPC