YP Letters: Strange that cash can be found for electrifying lines in South

Chris Grayling doesn’t lack courage (The Yorkshire Post, September 23). Has he realised that “The North” is rather more than the “Here be Dragons” land which he and his Westminster predecessors might have imagined?

It was good to hear him refer to us as “passengers” rather than mere “customers”; but does that signify anything?

His latest cut-price wheeze consists of trains described as “bi-modal” – a neat way of avoiding the discredited, dirty “D” word.

In one way or another, they’ve been around for years, so why did London and the Home Counties have to endure all the upheaval of mass electrification – tunnels and all? Perhaps the answer is that, long term, electric traction is vastly superior to diesel in every way – quiet, clean, fast and cheaper both in terms of running and maintenance.

The initial costs are high; but not so high as to deter a huge hand from going down the back of a seemingly bottomless Treasury sofa, to satisfy Southern demands.

It’s good to know that we have The Yorkshire Post on our side; but why the deafening silence from so many Northern MPs? Let’s remind them that, if not before, in a few short years, there will be another General Election.

Unless the sparks are really flying from the Northern Powerhouse their political futures will be in serious doubt.

From: Roger Backhouse, York.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling’s suggestion that further rail electrification isn’t needed because of bi-mode trains is an insult to the travelling public. His statement that we shouldn’t be concerned about how a train is powered also manages to be patronising.

Let’s state the obvious facts that have escaped Mr Grayling. Electrification offers faster speeds, better acceleration and lower maintenance costs. The bi-mode beloved by the Department for Transport, having both electric motors and diesel engines to take the train beyond wires, is a classic fudge. With the deadweight of a diesel engine to be hauled under the wires it cannot be a truly fast train. It costs more to build and maintain.

Diesels are polluting – hence the recent announcement that diesel cars will be phased out.

It is sad that Chris Grayling has failed to spot the technical illiteracy in his department. Yorkshire’s MPs and councils of all political persuasions will do right to dismiss bogus arguments from the minister and press for proper electrification.