Harsh on the mighty Bouch?

I AM of the opinion Dr Brennan in his feature ‘Bouch’s other bridges’ is somewhat harsh on Sir Thomas Bouch.

I cannot deny his handling of the Tay Bridge contract left a lot to be desired, however as an election was in the offing, the Government really needed the

Tay Bridge enquiry to conclude it was blameless.

The lawyer, Mr Rothery, in the minority report, incidentally exceeded the terms of reference of the inquiry by blaming Bouch. The engineers, Colonel Yolland and Mr Barlow, in the majority report, while not exonerating Bouch, were certainly not as harsh on him.

Lines not mentioned by Dr Brennan

but referred to in Bouch’s biography written by John Rapley are in Kent, and include the nine-arch masonry viaduct over the Darent valley at Eynsford in use today.

Bouch was a man of his time, and brought rails to areas that would not have otherwise benefited from the railway revolution.

Up to the Tay Bridge disaster nothing had gone seriously wrong with any of his projects, unlike some of his contemporaries.

C W Jagger

Leeds

was able to watch the local pick up goods trains shunting in the yard.

A small business centre now stands on this site, but the two access tunnels underneath the road are still extant.

I made occasional journeys with my mother into Newcastle on trains that were probably hauled by G2s, and also on the annual excursion train to Whitley Bay that was chartered by churches in Corbridge and Hexham.

In 1971, as a teenager, I moved to Riding Mill, and started to use the train for daily travel to school in Newcastle.

Mail and newspapers still arrived by train at that time, but the former goods yard and cattle dock were derelict, and were demolished two years later.

With the exception of three years at university and 18 months working away, I have been a regular commuter on the line for almost 50 years.

There are two small corrections: Blaydon and Dunstan did not receive an hourly service until 2018 and not 2013.

Only 13 of the 35 trains in each direction on a Sunday run the full length of the line. The remaining trains all terminate at the Metro Centre, giving this station three trains an hour from Newcastle, but only one of which continues to Carlisle

Ian McVittie

By email

The train arrived 30 minutes late and then travelled as far as Manchester Victoria, where the train terminated.

An already full train of passengers heading to the airport were put on an another already full train of passengers.

However, this train, which was already late, was terminated at Piccadilly, and now leaving two train loads of passengers to rush for taxis; as a consequence we missed our flight to Canada.

My wife and I have done this particular trip on many occasions in the past and never had any problem. However, what annoyed me this time was we went First Class, and on boarding the train we were told there was no hot water for a drink and the toilet was blocked!

To rub more salt into the wound, after applying for delay repay, I received an email the following day saying ‘approved’ then one the following day to say ‘unsuccessful’!

However, we cannot find out why as our emails aren’t answered, and you should only try phoning if you have a spare hour or two!

Peter Craggs

Leeds

What an appalling tale of how the railways treats its customers, and one that should embarrass anyone in the industry. I daren’t think how much rearranging flights cost.

While accepting TPE has been having many issues, which are still unresolved, airport services must be reliable and punctual.

Confusion over delay repay is unacceptable too, and train operators really must get their act together.

See feature on p20 - Ed