ANY transport user in their right mind would see the argument in favour of protecting the line of the former Bolton-Bury railway, and indeed many other disused lines (though I don't seriously think there is any prospect of reinstating George Stephenson's route from Bolton through Leigh to Kenyon Junction).

But it does not help the credibility of the campaign when advocates start fantasising about the uses to which a reinstated railway might be put. In particular, there is absolutely no prospect of any privatised rail operator ever putting on "fast transpennine services from Bolton, via Bury, to either Leeds or York" (The Bolton News, January 3).

This is partly because, to even access the main line through Rochdale, trains would have to use the East Lancashire Railway through Heywood to Castleton, and to resignal the junction and provide the necessary additional points and trackwork would cost upwards of £10 million.

More importantly, there would not be the capacity on the Calder Valley route to run the extra trains - and if they did run, they would lose money hand over fist.

Similarly, there is absolutely no prospect of the Bolton-Bury route forming any part of an east-west freight route. If additional capacity was required for transpennine freight, the most likely option would be to provide extra track capacity, passing loops, etc., on the North Transpennine route through Diggle and Huddersfield, or, better still, re-open the disused Great Central route through the Woodhead tunnel. Bury-Bolton, if it ever happens, will be purely local.

Peter Johnston, Kendal Road, Bolton