I am responding to the article "Great train door fiasco" (December 11), which outlined the reason for the delay to the introduction of South Central's new trains.

During extensive testing of the new trains between Brighton and Portsmouth, it became clear the trains were unable to keep to the existing timetable.

This was because of the high number of stations, the short distances between them and the fact the new trains' doors take longer to operate. Having recognised this, we took the decision to modify the trains to speed up the door-operating process.

This is an issue we believe to be unique on South Central's Coastway services. I assure passengers this will not have an impact across the remainder of the network as we roll out the new trains.

The article also stated all 700 new carriages are being modified. However, only 240 carriages are being modified. These were ordered before South Central took over the franchise in August 2001. The deadline for replacing all our slam-door trains was set by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), was not a condition of the franchise and is a regulation to which all the train companies operating slam-door trains must adhere.

The comment from John Stanaway does not reflect the reality of our relationship with both staff and passenger user groups. We have invited passenger user groups to be involved in the layout of the 460 new carriages ordered since taking over the franchise.

Many of these groups were represented at a trip to the Derby factory where the trains are being built and provided some invaluable suggestions for the specifications of the later order. Our staff have also been closely involved in testing with our project team.

The story went on to say Brighton-to-Victoria services will faced delays of up to 15 to 20 minutes. I cannot stress strongly enough to our passengers using these services this will not be an issue for the Brighton-to-London services.

The majority of South Central services from Brighton to London are fast services and driver-only operated. The Brighton mainline does not share the unique features of the Brighton-to-Portsmouth route with a large number of stations positioned relatively close together.

We have worked hard over the past eight months to introduce the new trains as soon as we possibly can.

We want to make sure the long wait for new rolling stock along the South Coast is rewarded with a fully tested and reliable service. It is a huge achievement by South Central to be at the final stages of getting these trains into passenger service in less than a year.

I do not believe any of our passengers would wish us to rush into getting the new trains into service only to withdraw them soon after because we had not taken the necessary steps to make sure they were going to do their job. We are committed to providing our passengers with a reliable service.

-David Franks, Managing Director, South Central