E. Howard should not feel too cynical about the glossy leaflets and balloons handed out by Railtrack at Lewes (Argus, August 3).

Railtrack is no different from the successive governments who previously ran the railways. They also promised to paint stations and upgrade the network.

In 1953, a year after the Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash in which 112 people died and a further 157 were injured, an estimate was published for installing an Automatic Train Control system that would work on electrified railways, costing £7,500,000 for all main lines over a five-year period, or £17,300,000 for all lines on a long-term plan. Since then, many stations have been painted, but no efficient ATC system exists.

Since 1953 many governments have taken the profits, but have provided very little investment in safety. History shows they have failed to provide a safe system for the travelling public because they have always spent the money elsewhere.

Railtrack may at long last install that much-needed system but at a much higher cost. Only the next 40 years will tell.

-I Levers, Billingshurst