The disaster on our railways today is entirely due to the privatisation by the previous Tory government and I feel strongly it should be brought to account for the situation we now find ourselves in.

For 18 years, the Tories underfunded British Rail because of lack of interest in the railway and sold it off as a third-rate industry to Railtrack, with the operating companies hoping to make quick profits.

They must have had their eyes shut when they invested in it.

The opposition party at that time said privatisation would be a disaster.

The railmen and the unions said likewise and the public, by 75 per cent, was sure it was the wrong move. We are now paying the price.

The infrastructure of the system has been eroded and that is why it is in such a mess, made worse by so many operators.

We are having the present strikes because national agreements that have existed for nearly 100 years regarding pay and conditions of service are being broken.

It will take many years of investment and managerial experience to see a difference in service to the public.

The railways were run by top men in every department, from the general manager down, with everybody knowing his or her job and all systems working together as a team.

It has all gone. Railwaymen were born, not made. It was a father-and-son industry.

The first tragedy to users of our railways was the Beeching Plan under the Tories in the early Sixties.

They have never recovered and were made even worse by privatisation.

I feel sad, as an old railman of almost 50 years' service and who served under the old Southern Rail Company, the Railway Executive and British Rail, to see such a sorry state of affairs.

-V A Gander, Balcombe