IN recent weeks one respondent suggested the proposed Haxby railway station would be a white elephant, while another stated that car use caused the original station to close.

When the original Haxby station closed in 1930, there were about two million cars in the UK and a population of 40 million. Thus there was approximately one car per 20 people.

The truth is that in 1930 Haxby was a village of 900 people; not a town of 9,000 as it is today. People shopped locally and worked within walking and cycling distance. Only the very wealthy could afford a car.

Britain was also affected significantly by the world wide recession that began in October 1929 and lasted a number of years.

Travel by rail is at its highest level for 90 years. Garforth is only marginally larger than Haxby and boasts two stations and 825,000 passenger journeys annually. Of course Haxby shouldn’t have a railway station, it should have two – Haxby North and Haxby South.

We were promised four new stations in York more than 20 years ago. If these had all been opened we would certainly have less road congestion in York.

Dale Edwards, Newborough Street, Bootham, York.