For the equivalent amount of money being thrown at the railways HS2 project, vast numbers of improvements could be made to the rail system throughout Britain, to improve things for the public travelling on the rest of the rail system.

Not least is Herefordshire ad the A49 'corridor' where to have a level cross on a major A road these days is the height of daftness and inconvenience. It causes false traffic build ups, causing traffic to move less freely, apart from the cost to those in business caused by hold-ups on the roads. Is anyone else incensed by road works and traffic lights at places where there is nothing happening, any cause of unnecessary delays seems to be complete ineptitude.

Onibury's level crossing needs to be eradicated and a bridge built. Herefordshire and surroundings need more stations. The county must the laughing tock of others, with only four stations in the whole area. Do the county's MPs, over the years, since the Beeching axe fell, actually try to get better facilities for local residents and visitors to the county. Stations are needed as parkways at Pontrilas and a spot half way between Ledbury and Hereford, and at Woofferton, where the nearby A49 also needs a far better junction and flyover, or similar, to make it safer. Not only for traffic to a Woofferton Parkway: Woofferton, remember, was the junction for a line to Tenbury Wells and Worcester, with Tenbury vastly bigger now than it was.

Bearing in mind that Hay-on-Wye had two rail lines going to it from Herefordshire, at one time, it is hugely incompetent that road access to that town has not been improved. The replacement bus service must have drivers of immense quality to enable them to squeeze along the terrible roads daily without accident.

There's much talk of a Hereford bypass, which cannot come too soon, but the whole A49 which links two dual carriageways needs improvement, in particular better roads at points of narrow bends, and bypasses around Bayston Hill, Dorrington and Craven Arms, amongst others.

Additionally of course is the parlous state of East West road travel from Hereford northwards. The A44 is terrible and is still obviously a winding old Dovers' route whilst the other west/east roads are worse. None has had any improvement either since Beeching axed the railways in the 1960s.

J. Evered

Llandrindod Wells