THE tidal wave of cross-Channel freight that Alastair Dyer thinks will need the Central Railway to carry it northwards (Letter, February 1) is as imaginary as the party-political plot for which he blames the opposition to that destructive scheme (January 4).
His "reliable forecast" that this traffic would grow by seven per cent a year actually comes from a Central Railway promotional paper intended to attract Government support.
The reality is that Department of Transport statistics since 1999 show virtually no growth in the traffic.
The Central Railway is not needed.
The Government will be making a decision soon.
Readers who do not want the Central Railway to be imposed on us by the kind of "positive thinking" that gave us the Millennium Dome may wish to tell John Spellar, Minister for Transport, at Elland House, Bressenden Place, London SW1E 5BU in their own words.
They may wish to point out that it would be an environmental disaster that at best could only relieve the motorway of fewer than three per cent of lorries and seems likely to fail commercially, leaving his Government with yet another crushing burden of railway debts.
Anthony Hoyle
Puers Lane
Jordans
February 14, 2002 13:38
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