WSR REPORTAGE LOWERS STANDARD

At this very difficult time for the movement, I suspect there are many lines in dire straits financially. It seems to me that you revel in stirring up old wounds with regards to the West Somerset Railway [plc] and West Somerset Railway Association.

Yes, I accept that they have both been through the mill during the last few years, but at a time when magazines such as yours should be doing all that they can to drum up support, you choose to run numerous features which all paint the WSR in a very negative way.

The railway has been on its knees and the figures given regarding operating losses have been truly staggering.

It is obvious, therefore, that all forms of revenue need to be looked at in depth.

The freehold and the Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust issues are all featured in this latest issue and, on reading them, I feel that you perhaps have a hidden agenda about the WSR. With regard to the freehold, the railway has an obvious need to secure the longterm future of the line as there is an ongoing requirement for heavy investment in the infrastructure. Would you invest six or sevenfigure sums in something that was not yours? I doubt it very much.

The emerging issue regarding the S&DRT is still in its infancy, but I suspect that there is a lot of behind-the-scenes activity in trying to resolve this. However, if what has been reported in Steam Railway is true about how much annual rent is being paid, then surely the WSR is well within its rights to negotiate an increase to something like a realistic sum.

With regard to 4160, I accept that there are two sides to a story but, as this has yet to be resolved between the WSRA and the owning Four One Six O Ltd, surely not reporting it would have been a more professional thing to do.

I would expect a magazine such as Steam Railway to be at the forefront of professional journalism, not to keep raking up the past. To my mind, you are seriously lowering your standards to a level akin to tabloid journalism.

I would like to point out that I have no particular allegiance to the WSR but, as a result of my disappointment in your reporting, I will be sending them a cheque to the value of two years’ worth of NOT buying Steam Railway.

David Cook, address supplied

l The magazine’s only agenda is very clear and open: to report on all aspects of railway preservation, positive and negative, without prejudice. By holding a mirror up to the movement, we are positioned to independently reflect these events. We fact-checked a number of claims and assertions issued by various organisations and ensured that all parties involved in the dispute were given a right of reply to the resultant questions. The key issue contained in the freehold story in fact relays the position of the owner, Somerset County Council. However, a positive development is that the WSR plc has since addressed all of our questions posed in May regarding the Somerset & Dorset Railway Trust eviction (see News) – Ed.