Sir – In the October edition of a well known railway magazine, a former executive director of the Strategic Rail Authority points to the possibility of achieving many of the benefits of the proposed new high-speed line from London to Birmingham by exploiting the potential of the present Chiltern Line route via Bicester and Banbury at a fraction of the cost.
A new rail station at Heathrow, for some time an integral part of the Tory approach to high-speed planning, could be linked into the main line network to the Midlands and the North by using the existing Thames Valley route via Reading and Oxford.
That could lead to the full resolution of the capacity problems that have dogged operations in the Oxford area for so long.
By exploiting existing infrastructure rather than building a new high-speed line from London to Birmingham, valuable financial resources could be diverted to much better effect elsewhere, both on and off the rail system.
Let us hope the Coalition Government will see sense soon — October 20 would be a good time.
Brian Yoxall, Woodstock
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