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On the right track?
THE HAWK professes puzzlement in your issue September 10. He cannot understand why Dyfed County Council should subsidise rail services between Haverfordwest and London, and alleges that British Rail already subsists on public charity.
I would maintain that road users also subsist on public charity, although it is the taxpayer who pays for the coaches rather than the ratepayer. The horrendous cost in financial, let alone human, terms of the coach crashes this summer will be borne by the tax payer, via the NHS and DHSS. The revenue loss to BR in cutting fares on this route only will have to be borne elsewhere in the system, or ultimately by the taxpayer.
Avon Friends of the Earth are very worried by this Government's attitude to the railways, which we regard as one of our greatest national assets. We hope that trains will still be running well into the next century, when fossil fuel will be too scarce to squander in motor vehicles, and we would like to congratulate Dyfed County Council for their common sense in trying to rectify the discrimination that the Government is showing against the railways.
JANE ROBERTS Campaigner Avon Friends of the Earth
Chronic chronicles
BEING a car and commercial vehicle buff, I naturally study the history of these vehicles. While books and articles on historic cars and buses are nearly always error-free, regarding facts, figures and dates, etc, it is a different story when it comes to old lorries.
Their history is stewn with mistakes, contradictions and distortions of fact. It is all very confusing. So please witness the CM ERF special issue (September 10). Surely it was 1954 and not 1952 when the KV-cabbed ERF was introduced? And I don't really know when the first Cumminsengined ERF was produced. Neither does ERF, Cummins or CMfor sure, apparently; CM states that it was 1958, while a Cummins advertisement said it was 1961!
"History is bunk", said Henry Ford. Is there any wonder? ROBERT PRESTON Hoyland near Barnsley South Yorkshire
French friends
MY FRIEND, Claude Tremblay, the owner of Multitransports of Le Mans, France, who operates a fleet of 46 vehicles, has sons aged 18 and 20 who both speak English. He would like them to come to work in England with a similar company on an exchange basis for six to 12 weeks in order to further their education and increase their transport knowledge. Could any company help? If anyone can, please contact me.
J. MABBOTT Proprietor JOHN DUMAYNE House and Office Furnishers 90 Wellingborough Road, Northampton