IN the UK there is a wonderful railway network. However it is not perfect and according to the Echo (Jan 2) in a report “data shows only 65 per cent of trains arrived at their scheduled station stops within one minute of the timetable during 2019”.

Could it be that the railway timetable is too harsh?

Perhaps the timetable should be drawn up to give a little more leeway.

When travelling in Europe, I find trains, more often than not, are waiting in stations after arriving for three or four minutes before departing, running to their timetable. If the timetable is not to blame perhaps the British travelling public need to know in more detail why our trains are not able to keep to the timetable bearing in mind safety has to be taken into account.

At present there are longstanding disputes on the South Western Railway and TransPennine Express.

This is a great opportunity for the newly elected government to get involved.

Solving the problems would earn them much goodwill.

To keep the public advised why not have a debate on TV involving the train companies and the unions outlining their respective positions. The Supreme Court judges should feature as they seem to hold a lot of sway.

Mike Taylor, Darlington.