Network Rail has good reason to shut down stations to carry out work - Yorkshire Post Letters

I was surprised by the comment made by one of Britain's leading travel consultants, Simon Calder, who seems to appear on all media channels when there is a transport problem, whether it is road, rail, sea or air.

He said in a national radio interview the day before the holiday rush period, that he found it incredible that Network Rail was closing Euston railway station over the Easter bank holiday weekend for engineering works.

Perhaps he is unaware, or naive, that Network Rail has a tight budget for the backlog of work on its order books, and needs to spend efficiently.

More work is achievable when there is a total shutdown of part of the railway network, compared to the restrictions of working overnight when stations are closed for 4 to 5 hours if the rail engineers are lucky.

The CEO of Network Rail, Andrew Haines, supported by his Chairman Sir Peter Hendy, certainly has a huge challenge maintaining, in order to keep trains moving daily, and upgrading Britain's rail network, including thousands of railway stations, which are often listed buildings. It adds to the cost of renovation to make these buildings functional and fit for purpose in the 21st century.

Mr Simon Calder is respected in the travel industry but needs to understand the economics of keeping the railway maintenance operating at a reasonable cost to the taxpayers.