Electricity switch

The increasing swap from air to rail between both Edinburgh and Glasgow and London (your report, 29 April) is notable, but rail has only a 6 per cent share of the traffic from Aberdeen to London – up from 4 per cent in 2006.

The reason is not hard to find, a Victorian railway infrastructure and the only direct service is by the same diesel-hauled units introduced in 1976. These are overdue for replacement, but there is a real threat that this will not be sanctioned; it may well be that travellers to “the oil capital of Europe” will first be required to take an electric-hauled train to Edinburgh, and then to transfer to a bus-on-rails as operated by ScotRail. London-Aberdeen takes seven to eight hours, and, if the direct service ends, the journey might conceivably take up to ten hours.

You reported recently that with the electrification of the principal Edinburgh-Glasgow line, there would be four electrified routes between these cities. It is surely obvious that electrification of the Edinburgh-Aberdeen line is years overdue.

Ken Gow

Bridge of Canny

Banchory, Aberdeenshire