In the two years prior to the privatisation of British Rail the Tory Government refused to place any orders for new carriages hoping that the winners of the franchises would do the job for them, which they eventually did mostly abroad.

In these two years the order books dried up and several train building works and connected suppliers, including York, went to the wall.

We now have the current Tory/ Lib Dem Coalition awarding a train-building contract to a foreign company because they had to comply with EU regulations.

How is it that we seem to comply with these regulations when other members do not?

By awarding this contract to Siemens we now see the last chapter in the demise of British train building with the pending closure of Bombardier in Derby.

We seem to have a Government that cares more about full employment for other EU members, cares more about maintaining an image as the largest charity in the world and fails to look after the people who elected them in the first place.

How long before the next election?

A P Cox, Heath Close, Holgate, York.

• Concerning the contract for rail carriages lost by Bombardier to the German manufacturers Siemens. Bombadier never stood a chance, because EU rules favoured its German rival. Talk about rubbing salt into wounds.

Also Siemens are a bigger company than Bombardier. The contract was always going to be awarded to Siemens because of its clout within the EU.

It would appear the winning firm Siemens had a better credit rating and could secure loans at much cheaper rates under EU law.

How the devil do we in this country beat this?

A Government source stated finance was a major issue, Siemens had much lower costs due to much cheaper credit.

This system will never allow UK firms to out bid, because they are not competitive enough.

Its the crazy EU system again, we wil never win in the UK.

After this shambolic carry-on, we should get out of the EU soonest. We are as good as any other country at building rail stock.

Give this contract back to this country were it should have been in the first place.

Tom Mitchell, Mendip Close, Huntington, York.