SIR, The letters of Mr. Williamson and Mr. Barlow on
the subject of first-class travel overlook an important distinction. Most people who journey between two points some considerable distance apart are forced to travel by train. Railway travel becomes, therefore, a necessity and not a minor self-indulgence, like the Savoy, a superior radio set or a Savile Row tailor—genuine luxuries in which individual preference is rightly allowed full play. Many people loathe travelling by train, and to do so in a perpendicular position in a draught-swept corridor is par- ticularly galling when there are empty seats in a comparatively warm first-class compartment. This, however, is no attempt to exonerate a cynical railway company from selling tickets without relation to seating accommodation—a form of dishonesty which is felt most acutely by the long-distance season-ticket holder, first or third class, who is light- heartedly elbowed into the corridor by the smirking railway official to make room for the care-free holiday-maker.—Yours faithfully, Bassets, Winchelsea Road, Guestling, Sussex. FRANK DOWLING.
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