Mike Walsh asks whether I know about modern trams (Letters, February 25).

I have made a study of urban rapid transit systems in Europe, North America and Hong Kong.

I am familiar with the Brussels system but not that of Philadelphia.

What he refers to as trams are, in fact, light railways running, for the most part, on reserved or underground tracks.

There is only one tramway remaining in this country and that runs along Blackpool seafront.

Although the Croydon system calls itself a tramway, only a small part in the town centre runs along the public highway.

The rest runs over formations previously owned by Railtrack. These trains should not run down public roads.

Even before it opened to the public, the Croydon system had claimed two fatalities.

I agree light railways are the most effective way of moving large numbers of travellers along major corridors but ask Mike where would he put the rails in Brighton?

-Peter E H Bailey, Beaconsfield Villas, Brighton