Letter: Rail realism

You report that a watchdog has warned that passengers, faced with soaring fares, could protest against costly proposals to snow-proof the railway network by heating the third rail, which supplies power to the trains (30 December). It quotes Anthony Smith, chief executive of Passenger Focus, saying: "Heating the third rail is going to cost a fortune."

It seems unlikely that either Network Rail or ScotRail will seek to snow-proof Scottish lines this way since trains on all of the Scottish network's electrified lines draw their power from overhead catenary, as many Scots travellers will know. Mr Smith's concern is primarily for rail passengers in the south-east of England.

Sandy Simpson

Erskine Hill

Polmont, Stirlingshire