31 JANUARY 1998, Page 23

Hornby Trains

EVEN now (fumes I.K. Gricer) Mr Prescott's advisers are explaining how splendid it would be to bring the Eurostars to Stratford-atte-Bow. Then their passen- gers could stroll across the platform, once it had been rotated through 90 degrees, and catch the Crossrail into central London. Crossrail, too, is a dotted line on a map, though the dots are fading. London and Continental Railways must disentangle themselves from such fantasies. They need to reach the London border and then fol- low Denis Healey's law of holes and stop digging. Then I hope that Sir Derek Horn- by, their chairman, will relaunch the com- pany as Hornby Trains.