All travellers need benefit on the trains

From: Canon Michael Storey, Healey Wood Road, Brighouse.

RECENTLY, a friend and I took advantage of the OAP offer of an £8 return from Leeds to Carlisle. We went from Halifax to Leeds and back by normal train.

All the trains were full, in fact standing room only from Leeds to Carlisle and back on a two-and-a-half hour journey!

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On boarding the train at Carlisle we asked: “Why only two carriages?” The reply – no spares. Furthermore, all the rush hour trains into Leeds Station seemed to have standing room only!

Then one reads of a plan to spend £32bn (Yorkshire Post, February 28) on a high-speed line which may bring benefit to some people but not to the crowds packing into local trains and “special offers” such as the one to Carlisle.

When will any government have a transport policy for the railways which benefits all travellers?

Price hike in power bill

From: John Micklethwaite, Hollin Hill, Huby, York.

EDF publicised their intended price rise of 7.5 per cent for March 2011. I am on their Eco20:20 tariff which gave 20 per cent discount overnight and at weekends.

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Because I have a Ground Source Heat Pump that runs 24 hours, two-thirds of my (high) consumption has been at the discounted rate.

I received EDF’s new tariff rates last week and was astonshed to find that they have increased the discounted rate by 23 per cent, the day rate by six per cent and added a daily standing charge. The net result is an increase in my future bills of 20 per cent.

I do not see how EDF can justify this price hike and have been unable to speak to anyone in the company who understands the problem.

Needless to say, I shall be ugently looking for another supplier.

Vision failure from the BBC

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From: SB Oliver, Churchill Grove, Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire.

MAY I join the queue of readers agreeing with the waste of BBC money by sending TV reporters in front of locations, or buildings, just to give a short dialogue of news about what has gone on “behind me here”.

Geoffrey Allen (Yorkshire Post, February 28) tells of Downing Street and Full Sutton Prison being used as “background” for short reports but I can highlight an even bigger waste of money with the Egyptian crisis.

There was Jeremy Bowen sending in TV news reports in front of camera as well as doing voice-overs for film footage.

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So what does the BBC do? It flies out its main news anchor-man, George Alagiah as well. We then got news reports with George interviewing Jeremy, both on camera from Cairo. What’s the point of that ?

With modern split-screen technology being regularly used, why didn’t the BBC just use it and let George do the interview from the London studio? Doesn’t anybody at the BBC have any grasp of basic economy savings or simple common sense?

Farmers and turbines

From: Ryan Gill, Managing Director, Evoco Energy Ltd, Thornhillbeck Lane Brighouse, West Yorkshire.

IN response to the article highlighting the concerns for farmers wishing to invest in wind turbines (Yorkshire Post, February 21), I wish to clarify the current situation arising from the Government review of Feed in Tariffs (FIT).

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Announced earlier this month, the review has greatly reduced the levels of confidence for future investment in small-scale wind energy.

It is important to realise that the review was sparked by initial concerns that it would be large-scale solar farms, rather than the small-scale installations of communities, homeowners and small businesses, that would reap the benefits of the government scheme.

This being the case, it is unlikely that the review will lead to a negative result for small-scale installations.

Nevertheless, since Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne has confirmed that any changes following the review would not affect any installations finalised before summer, now is not the time to halt investment.

Instead, farmers should be taking advantage of the incentive while the review is still taking place.