Les Summers is right to want Great Western railway electrification to continue west of Didcot (ViewPoints, December 1).

Electrics are quieter, cleaner, accelerate better and have a carbon footprint at least 20 per cent lower than diesels.

Les is correct that electrification to Oxford does not ensure electrification to Swansea. St Pancras-Bedford commuter services were electrified in 1983 but St Pancras-Sheffield expresses on that line are still diesel.

Les is correct that Thameslink electric trains earmarked for the Thames Valley are 20+ years old. But they are built to last, possibly up to 50 years, and will be fully refurbished before coming here.

Second-hand need not be second best. Great Western HST expresses date from the 1970s but feel almost new. They too were built to last, and in 2005 were refurbished with new engines and interiors.

HSTs on the Great Western and elsewhere need replacing before 2020. The Intercity Express Programme (IEP) must decide what combination of diesel and electric power will best equip Britain’s next generation of express trains.

Britain’s railways have the lowest proportion of electrified routes of any major western European country. There has been hardly any new electrification in England since Rail privatisation in 1995. Not until 2008 did a Secretary of State for Transport admit electrification should resume.

Given the recession and Government deficit, Railfuture warmly welcomes the £900m, 70-mile electrification to Newbury and Oxford. We hope next year’s IEP announcement will extend electrification to the whole Great Western main line.

Hugh Jaeger, Media Officer, Railfuture Thames Valley Branch