I refer to your excellent leader (Evening Press, January 5). Having recently arrived in York on a Virgin train running three hours and two minutes late, however, convinces me that you have been too kind to Virgin!

The excuse so often trotted out by Branson that the rolling stock acquired from British Rail is terribly old and unreliable, and that once their new trains have arrived everything will be wonderful, doesn't 'hold water'.

While no one would pretend that investment-starved BR bequeathed a modern fleet to the new companies at privatisation (GNER electrics excepted), the Mark 3 coaches which form a considerable part of Virgin's fleet are still one of the most comfortable Inter City vehicles in Britain.

Neither did they suddenly get old the day Virgin took over, so if BR could maintain them why can't Virgin keep them reliable now?

The trains used by Virgin on its cross-country routes are Intercity 125 High Speed Diesel trains with Mark 3 coaches. GNER uses identical trains on its Kings Cross to Aberdeen and Inverness services and seems to have no problem in maintaining its fleet. The same applies to Great Western on services from Paddington to Penzance and the West Country.

No, the management problems at Virgin trains are in a far worse state than you have described.

Finally, let us not forget the poor taxpayer as well as the passenger. The public subsidy to the passenger railway is running at almost double what it was under last year of BR (£1.8 billion compared with £1billion), yet almost everywhere surveys show that the service provided has deteriorated.

Virgin may be the worst performer but it is far from being alone.

The Government must act soon through its proposed Strategic Rail Authority otherwise come the next election the quality, and cost, of rail services will be seen by many voters to be its fault and not that of the previous administration which 'designed' such a crazy system in the first place.

Roger Bastin,

Transport 2000 (NY),

Temple Lane,

York.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.