Sir - In Christian Wolmar's excellent recent book Fire and Steam, a history of the railways in Britain, he points out: "By October 1852 the company (Great Western) was running an express service from Oxford to London in 68 minutes".

I imagine that, 156 years later, today's hapless commuters, staring bleakly into the distance for signs of an approaching train, would be delighted by the introduction of such a service.

Nigel Clarke, Oxford