Railway farce

I REFER your front page item last week concerning March railway station and toilets.

The toilets blocking up is a persistent and recurring. Obviously there is a problem with the system that needs attending to to rectify the situation.

Some years ago the management decided various aspects of the station needed refurbishment. They replaced the platform edging stones, re-aligned kerb stones on the footpath alongside the station and resurfaced roadways and platforms. These were the jobs that I have no doubt needed attention to bring them up to standard.

However, to give low priority to the factors most in need of attention is a total failure - namely eradicating the persistent problem with the toilet drains, the roof that leaked and clearance of the rainwater down pipes.

If the railway management lived in houses with leaky roofs and toilets regularly blocked I doubt if they would be so concerned that the footpath edging was out of line. They certainly wouldn't whittle about the paint being the wrong shade of blue.

Until your headlines, no one had known that the paint was the wrong blue - not the railway workers, the passengers or the railway enthusiasts who have an eye for this kind of detail.

What the public need and should be able to expect for the fares they pay are trains that arrive on schedule and not be cancelled, toilets that work and station staff who are properly trained to perform their duties. We do not need a Dulux paint colour chart.

What this farcical paint saga does is confirm the view of many associated with the railway industry that the railway management in many cases couldn't run a whelk stall.

PETER WRIGHT

Station Road

March