Speeding backwards

I note the further correspondence about UK railways, one concerning speed, the other the important issue regarding electrification (

, 3 September).

Once again, the altered Channel Tunnel link will remove connections in Kent to make slightly faster times available for us from the Midlands.

As one of your readers quite rightly observes, 'the tendency to achieve quicker point-to-point speeds by removing intermediate stops is to be deprecated'.

Speed is less important for the mostly relatively short distances in the UK than convenience, cost and connections.

And let's not lose sight of the fact that it also takes more energy, and therefore costs more, to go faster.