IF Julian Thake will supply me with chapter and verse to substantiate his comments about there being "little or no actual competition" resulting from directive 91/440, I will supply him with plenty of examples of the process working.

Interestingly, the German transport minister has recently concluded that it is not necessary to have an infrastructure company separated from the state rail company for the directive to work. This supports my original point that British politicians are to blame for the mess our railways are in, not the EU directive.

As for the euro, I bow to Mr Thake's superior knowledge of economic theory. As to how the euro will fare, we will have to await developments.

A REECE, Worcester.