As a former Minehead resident, I was saddened but not surprised to read in the Free Press of yet more financial problems and worries for the West Somerset Railway.

One of the issues that the line must face up to is that it is not used properly – how can any railway be free of financial worries and constraints if it is only used at certain times of the year and for just a few hours of the day?

The WSR needs to get together with the local authorities and the mainline railway to see how it can operate a commuter service into Taunton for the whole year round, using lightweight diesel railcars which only put a fraction of wear on the track that steam trains do.

This would benefit the people of West Somerset and only put a fraction of the pollutants into the atmosphere that steam trains do.

The other problem is that the line is managed by people who see it as a hobby rather than a business and a service.

So long as the line is run by steam train buffs and locomotive enthusiasts obsessed with all things Victorian and insistent upon inefficient outdated technology, then the line will struggle on from crisis to crisis.

The only solution is to hand the line’s management over to the county council, which could run it professionally and more efficiently as apart of the public transport network.

The track is already owned by the county council anyway, and I am sure it could come to an agreement with the local mainline train companies to provide a diesel trains service all year round as well as squeezing in steam trains in the summer.

Colin Webber, North Street, Bridgwater.