RE your story, “Call for rail stop on restored coastline”

(Echo, Feb 15). Congratulations to Durham county councillor Alan Cox on highlighting the urgent need for a new rail station to serve the people of east Durham.

Whether it should be located at Blackhall Colliery as he suggests, or at Horden, is open to debate.

What we do know is that the Association of Train Operating Companies in a report issued last June said that the Peterlee area, population 23,000, badly needed access to the national rail network. Ideally, this would be via a new Parkway-type station on the East Coast village line.

It is high time that this part of County Durham was afforded the advantages that regular rail passenger services bring, particularly in respect of improving people’s access to major centres of employment and boosting tourism.

Hopefully, Councillor Cox will persist in his endeavours and, more importantly, succeed.

Tony Walker, Press Officer, Railfuture North-East