Letter: Slow train

Friday 03 January 1997 00:02 GMT

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Sir: Roger Cowell (letter, 31 December) complains with reason about the train service from Oxford. A service such as he experienced sends a message to its customers: "We are unreliable and do not care about you. Please do not use our trains."

However, the Oxford train service was notoriously poor even before privatisation; hence the successful coach services which now compete with the trains between Oxford and London. By contrast, South West Trains' services from Hampshire to London were good before privatisation, and remain so (same trains, mostly the same staff). Privatisation seems to have had little effect on service quality either way, so far.

JOHN STANNING

Winchester

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