After booking my holidays in Lynton, Devon, I decided to check the train times to Taunton from Preston only to find that the Virgin Cross Country service from Scotland had ceased running on Thursday December 27 2007.

It would seem that due to franchise specifications drawn up by the Department of Transport for the Cross Country trains, the franchise has now been awarded to Arriva Trains which only run from Manchester Piccadilly and Birmingham New Street.

This is a kick in the teeth to people living in the North West of England and Scotland and will be a severe blow to tourism in the South West of England and possibly Scotland.

Why is it the Government encourage us to use public transport and then pull the railway lines from under the travelling public's feet?

We will soon have a rail system no better than a third world Ruritanian country, thanks to a Government who can throw away billions on the Olympic Games in 2012, at the expense of public transport.

I would like someone from the Department of Transport to give me a believable explanation as to why these cuts were necessary.

George Hughes, Beaumaris Ave, Blackburn.