SIR – Congratulations to the Government – they are thinking of a train that will travel at 196 mph from London to Manchester by 2020 as the first stage in a route that might get to Leeds (T&A, June 10).

But it might not happen, because we have to face drastic cuts to ensure the bankers will still be able to gamble with our savings and draw their bonuses.

I recently travelled on one of the new Chinese high-speed trains from Guangzhou to Changsha, 400 miles away – the distance between London and Edinburgh.

The train service began last December, takes two-and-a-half hours and costs £60 return.

We left after lunch, glided up to Changsha with no impression of speed, and returned to Guanzhou for 9.30pm.

The train was beautifully smooth and travelled at speeds of up to 220mph. They are currently building 10,000km of high-speed rails and plan to have 50,000km working by 2020.

The response of the Chinese to the credit crunch is to put more money into manufacturing and infrastructure so they are less reliant on the gamblers who run the banks.

It seems to work. In 1876, the first Chinese railway was being started in Shanghai. Meanwhile, Bradford was debating whether to link its railway stations together and we had lines to Clayton, Thornton and Denholme as part of a 20,000km network.

We live in interesting times.

John Baruch, Clayton Lane, Clayton, Bradford