Rail service delays

Press, 13 April 1984, Page 20

Rail service delays

Sir, — Anger prompted Mrs J. A. Ward to take up cudgels against the railway workers whose stopwork meeting caused her and her play group so much inconvenience (“The Press,” April 9). Anger prompts me to reply. In her letter, she claimed that it had been 10 years since she last went on a train, and that it was likely to be 10 years before she tried again. Surely it is that kind of patronage that has helped to put the railways in such a precarious position. More consistent use by the correspondent and her peers would have resulted in better passenger services. She was unfortunate enough to have to wait on a cold draughty platform for one hour. I, as a railway worker, face the prospect, along with some 7999 others, of having to wait many months, if not years, in a cold draughty labour exchange for the opportunity of a job on a rapidly-shrinking job market. Forgive us if we seem to show little sympathy for Mrs Ward, but on her own admission, we see her thinking as the kind that has caused our misfortune. — Yours, etc., NICHOLAS WOGAN, (locomotive assistant). April 10, 1984.