IT was pleasing indeed to read Ken Sutherland's letter (February 13) on Crossrail.

When one considers the advantages as outlined to the entire region and the undoubted economic benefits that would accrue to Scotland, one can only assume that the attention of the Transport Minister and that of the SNP Government as a whole must be on other things. Compared with the costs of other capital projects south of the Border such as HS2 and the Crossrail London scheme, one cannot believe that the costs of electrifying and upgrade of the disused Union rail link are anything like being on the same scale. The benefits would be apparent within a comparatively short space of time, not decades into the future.

Is it not the case that the SNP Government is missing a trick here?

Alex Mackie,

30 Claremount Avenue, Giffnock.

SO Hope Street, Glasgow, is one of our most polluted streets (“Roads pollution sparks a final warning for UK”, The Herald, February 16).

We are now paying the penalty for the short sighted removal of the trams from Glasgow streets in support of the oil barons and the UK Treasury.

If we had modernised the trams and kept them – like Helsinki, for example – we would all be able to walk down Hope Street and Union Street without getting sore throats or headaches from the fumes.

Our buses should be replaced by all-electric vehicles.

A Moss,

Deanston Gardens, Doune, Perthshire.