On wrong line

Dr JOHN Cameron (Letters, 4 October) tries to lay the blame for the West Coast rail fiasco on Gordon Brown’s ­micro-managing.

He should check his facts ­before making such an ­allegation.

When it came to power, Prime Minister David Cameron’s coalition changed the rules in the hope that it would be able to bring more money into the Treasury and make companies take on greater risk.

The West Coast franchise was the first of these new longer term deals.

So, it is the Tories and Liberal Democrats who are responsible for wasting at least £40 million of public money.

Once again, coalition ministers hide behind the “it wisnae me” tactic of blaming civil servants, but what are ministers for if they don’t check reports before signing them off?

This is yet another example of the coalition’s sheer incompetence – to be added to the long list that the Labour Party leader Ed Miliband produced on 
Tuesday.

Henry L Philip

Grange Loan

Edinburgh

Why has Steve Montgomery, managing director of First ScotRail, resumed the practice in First Insight, the complimentary handout to rail travellers, of signing off with: “Thank you for choosing to travel with ScotRail”?

First ScotRail provides 95 per cent of rail services in Scotland. For almost all of us, therefore, there is no choice.

Gordon Casely

Crathes

Kincardineshire