LIKE many other people, it seems, I often use the Great Western main line to go to Swindon, Bristol and sometimes Exeter or Cardiff, but I certainly don’t go via London.

The obvious way is to drive to Maidenhead and transfer to rail there.

However, traffic on the A404 from High Wycombe down towards the M4 is notoriously unpredictable and it can take anything from 25mins to over an hour to get to Maidenhead. It seems that, for a couple of hours a day in each direction, it is the norm to crawl along this once fast road for half an hour or so hardly moving. Several times I’ve booked a cheap train to the South West and missed it because traffic was even worse than expected.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if I could get on a train in High Wycombe and go straight to Maidenhead without having to endure all that traffic? Just as you could any time between between 1852 and 1970 when the High Wycombe-Bourne End line closed. It closed because not many people were using it – but the then new A404 was pretty quiet at that time and no-one thought it would become a multiple bottle-neck. It’s now abundantly clear that closing that line was a big mistake.

How come people aren’t clamouring to have the High Wycombe – Bourne End rail link re-opened? We could have through trains from Wycombe via Maidenhead (for Crossrail) to Reading (whose station is currently being massively improved) and all connections south and west. Much better than sitting in traffic. But I suppose most people aren’t aware that a comparatively simple solution is at hand. This isn’t a massive project like HS2 or Crossrail: it could be done within a year or two.

The High Wycombe Society Transport Group have been trying to get something done about the ‘HBL’ for years.

In my opinion, the solution is a proper heavy rail link from High Wycombe to Maidenhead and Reading. Until that happens, and with the unpredictability of the traffic into Maidenhead, as Elsa Woodward and an earlier correspondent suggest on your letters pages, the answer is to park at Bourne End and get the train to Maidenhead. If time permits, you can take the bus from Wycombe to Bourne End.

So, we have a big campaign to stop HS2, how about another one in favour of HBL, anybody? Brunel’s original station is being restored at High Wycombe, now let’s restore his railway line too!

Ian Smith, Roberts Ride, Hazlemere