I believe that re-instatement of the old railway system would be a far superior alternative and I am dismayed to learn that Councillor Guy McGregor feels that ‘the best thing I can do is give this idea of extending the guided busway from Addenbrooke’s some thought’.

I am not sure why the councillor feels this way but, for the record, I have detailed how I imagine that a renewed railway for Haverhill would look and the advantages over any form of guided bus system.

In my view, the railway link between Haverhill and Cambridge would be very different from the one that was destroyed some 40 years ago.

In this modern age, passengers need a quick and easy form of transport. My vision for the route is to have it run between a terminus near the proposed new Tesco store and link in with the main line at Cambridge.

The convenience factor for bringing additional shoppers to these stores, a similar arrangement to Braintree Freeport, cannot be understated.

Trains would run from Haverhill to Cambridge following the old line as much as possible.

The Cambridge to Sudbury Rail Renewal Society (CSRRS) commissioned a preliminary report a few years ago and the outcome was ‘the reinstatement of the former railway between Cambridge and Sudbury is feasible in engineering terms without recourse to any operation which would be considered non standard. There are a number of locations along the route at which considerable investment will be required to overcome obstacles, but in all identified locations solutions are available’.

I would suggest a combination of ‘fast’ and ‘slow’ trains.

The fast ones would travel directly from Haverhill to Cambridge (and vice-versa) with no stops in between.

I defy any bus, guided or not, to do this at peak times.

The slow trains would take the same route and run alternately to the fast ones, the only difference being they would stop at the smaller stations in between (Bartlow, Linton etc).

A survey conducted by the CSRRS, in June 2001, revealed that of the 185 people questioned who travel between Haverhill and Cambridge regularly, 146 of them would use the railway if it was re-introduced – a whopping 79 per cent!

I commute to Cambridge to work every day and it makes me sad even now to think of how our grandfathers and great grandfathers laboured on the line constructing cuttings and embankments.Their efforts seem to have been wasted while we sit in traffic jams along the route.

No, Mr McGregor, I don’t think a guided busway is the answer. Let’s get Haverhill back on track!

Paul Dockerill,

Bartlow Road,

Castle Camps.