Letter: A step too far?

Network Rail's £130 million proposals to upgrade Waverley Station (your report, 13 January) are welcome. However, we are not sure its plans to construct an escalator, lifts and a glass roof at Waverley Steps make sense.

Householders who are being urged to reduce their carbon footprint may wonder why we need another escalator consuming energy 24 hours a day.

Equally, when more than 60 per cent of Scots are overweight they may wonder if this makes things better or worse. Walking up stairs is cheaper than gym membership, is easy to incorporate into a daily routine and protects against heart disease, bowel cancer and depression as well as helping maintain a healthy body weight.

The 66 steps from Waverley to Princes Street use around 13 calories for each ascent, more than 2,500 calories annually for the daily commuter.

The steps are used by around five million people a year, so their impact on health is considerable. Given the choice, most of us will take the escalator, which means that this development will contribute to extra cases of heart disease, obesity and cancer.

These problems will come at a price, as taxpayers will ultimately pay for the additional construction costs and maintenance.

We realise that this project is well advanced, but there is a clear opportunity here for the developers. Excluding the escalator from the plan will reduce Network Rail's carbon footprint, improve the health of its customers and reduce costs for the taxpayer. Surely hitting all three of these goals provides an opportunity not to be missed.

(Dr) Colin Fischbacher

(Dr) Gerry McCartney

(Dr) Matthew Lowther

(Prof) George Morris