We need to invest in country buses and trains, writes Jenny Gray . Sue Owen praises Manchester’s trams, while Mick Marchington bemoans the slowness of northern cross-country rail services

In total sympathy with Lynsey Hanley’s sentiments (By rail or bus, the north is going nowhere, Journal, 8 May). Not only the north but everywhere outside London is blighted by heavy use of polluting motor vehicles and woefully inadequate and expensive public transport.

If the government was serious about limiting climate damage and improving public health, public transport improvement would be a priority. There must be heavy investment so that fares, particularly in peak time, are temptingly cheap and a comprehensive network is set up.

Let’s see investment for country buses and trains, rather than vanity projects centred on London – which, of course, would also benefit if commuters came in by public transport rather than cars.

Jenny Gray

Marlborough, Wiltshire

• I totally agree with Lynsey Hanley that the disparity in investment in public transport between London and the north is shockingly unjust. However, I was surprised that she thought Manchester should be “banging down doors” to get its own metro system. We already have a brilliant network of light, efficient, quiet, non-polluting trams that take hundreds of thousands of cars off the city’s roads each year.

Sue Owen

Manchester

• This week I travelled by train to Leeds from Manchester. The outward journey from Manchester Piccadilly took over an hour because my train trundled round Manchester for 20 minutes, going via Victoria station. By contrast, I often travel to London from Macclesfield, a journey that takes 100 minutes for a distance four times that to Leeds. At the rate HS3 is progressing, I might never see the anticipated super fast trains.

Mick Marchington

High Peak, Derbyshire

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