The stricter line of the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) is very good news indeed.

Fears that scrapping 20-year franchises in favour of short-term contracts will deter investment are purely academic, since train companies have little intention of that anyway.

As well as punctuality and safety, the SRA's new emphasis on hygiene, security and information is likewise welcome. Those of us who travel on the Brighton Express have to put up with filthy toilets which often do not work.

On one occasion, sewage overflowed from the pan and ran into the train compartment. There are, however, only just so many letters one can write. Besides, they did not make any impression on Connex and the same appears to be so with SouthCentral.

Though the previous government got us into this hole with its break-up of British Rail, this does not absolve our presently elected leaders of responsibility.

When Gwyneth Dunwoody proved too forceful a critic, Tony Blair tried to sack her from the Commons Transport Select Committee.

Then, on July 16, 2001, more than 100 backbench Labour MPs rebelled and forced a reversal of her sacking (and that of Donald Anderson from the foreign affairs select committee).

Among the rebels was Des Turner, of Kemp Town, but missing were the names of our two other MPs, David Lepper of Brighton Pavilion and Ivor Caplin of Hove.

The latter stance was quite outrageous. The economy and quality of life in Brighton and Hove is crucially dependent upon viable rail links, particularly with London, as should have been obvious from the disruption that came in the wake of the Hatfield crash and the floods of that winter.

An MP's primary duty is, arguably, to influence national policy in such manner as to satisfy local exigencies and concerns. Otherwise, what is the point of electing someone to a seat in Parliament at an annual salary of £55,000 plus perks and expenses, with a self-voted pension scheme sufficient to make a fat-cat director weep with envy?

-Dr Yen-Chung Chong, Ship Street, Brighton