Having just returned from yet another very enjoyable holiday on the Isle of Wight, I am left with the burning question as to why on earth £26 million is being spent on train and track upgrades for the existing Ryde to Shanklin line when the existing bus service copes with space to spare.

This is during the summer too when the Isle of Wight is packed with so-called “staycationers.” Off-season there must be even more space.

Please don’t tell me that upgrading the railway will encourage more people out of their cars.

It won’t. The superb bus service can handle it anyway. The railway is not missed at all right now.

It should have been allowed to die a natural death and then have been handed over to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway for them to run.

It would have attracted — and carried — far more passengers than the £26m investment ever shall.

The tourism industry would have benefited all round too.

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