After reading your Railtrack supplement (April 21) I would ask: Do Railtrack know what they really want?

They admit to owning land to the rear of the station which they could use for their proposed new office in which to concentrate their 500 workers, and yet they want to destroy a long established, well used and much loved leisure facility run by York Railway Institute.

It just does not make sense when they are at the same time complaining there is still a shortage of car parking for passengers and are seeking planning permission to expand it. An office in Queen Street would surely exacerbate the present situation.

I suspect an undisclosed agenda here and would suggest our recreationally minded caring and listening council give a little firm guidance to Railtrack before considering any cut in the sporting facilities in the city.

There is surely sufficient vacant commercial capacity in the city without reserving the aforementioned 'spare area' for further development.

As an institute member for more than 50 years, I view these proposals by Railtrack with grave concern, especially for the youngsters coming along.

John H Ward,

Newlands Drive,

Acomb.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.