SIR — I read with increasing exasperation the correspondence concerning the pie in the sky ideas about the possibility of a scheduled train service to Taunton.

I am not involved with the West Somerset Railway but I know that this issue has come up many times and the financial figures do not add up.

It is conceivable that a restricted service might be possible, but not a regular one, and in any case the ticket price would probably be prohibitive.

Why Mr de Mendoza seems to think this is a viable option I have no idea, and I feel that as chairman of the Minehead Chamber of Commerce he should be using his influence to help the traders of Minehead instead of using the good name of the chamber to further his own interests.

Ian Melhuish, Whitegate Road, Minehead.