LIKE Rachael Maskell, I too was disappointed that Transpennine electrification was cancelled, but I was not surprised.

In her column (The Press, August 12) she fails to mention the main reasons for the cancellation of this project.

The first reason is the EU increased the clearances for overhead line electrification under bridges and through tunnels from 2.75 metres to 3.5 metres.

This makes all future projects far more expensive as more structures have to be altered than would have before.

This is another totally unnecessary waste as there was nothing wrong with the smaller clearances which had been in place ever since overhead electrification was used without any problems.

This is another reason to leave the EU.

The other reason is of course Great Western electrification, which is now running at least three years late and way over budget having been a fiasco and completely mismanaged from the start.

It will be noted that it is government-owned Network Rail running this project and they can’t even get smaller schemes right like Tram Train in Sheffield and Gospel Oak to Barking electrification.

Rachael also forgets that her own Labour party cancelled many rail projects in the early 2000s, including the Leeds Supertram and Newcastle to Ferryhill Leamside line.

The main problem on Transpennine is lack of infrastructure. From the 1960s up to the 1980s many lines were removed including slow lines, limiting capacity, so let’s start by removing the new rules regarding clearances then set about increasing the amount of lines available.

Ian Foster, Hawthorne Avenue, Haxby, York