As a former employee of the old Southern Railway, I wonder whether some of the companies' problems lie with the few disgruntled members of staff who just don't want privatisation to work.

The rail companies cannot be held responsible for graffiti while dirty carriages and toilets are caused by the travelling public. Nor can they be held to account for such unforeseen circumstances as mechanical and electrical failure.

In all situations, safety must be paramount, delay or no delay. Some delays are, again, due to the public.

The Isle of Wight island line is often quoted as being best for punctuality, but if a train cannot keep to a timetable on a mere eight-mile stretch of track, something would indeed be very wrong.

People seem to have forgotten how abysmal the service provided by British Rail was when over-manning strikes and work to rules were the order of the day.

Before retirement I spent several years travelling up to London from Kent in overcrowded commuter trains. We didn't whinge as we knew you cannot put a quart into a pint pot.

To create more tracks to accommodate more trains would involve wholesale demolition and would also probably be an affront to the environmentalist nimbies.

Where justified, by all means let us constructively criticise the rail companies but, please, let's be fair.

-Name and address supplied