Sir, Your correspondents are right to remind our transport planners of the extraordinarily little-noticed fact that we are an island (letters, Sept 6). But containers and coastal barges are not the end of the story.
Maglev railways built offshore would obviate expensive and voter-irritating compulsory purchase orders, the danger of damage to our historical heritage and the risks to trespassing schoolboys. Far removed from population centres, the trains could travel at close to the speed of sound, so that a journey from London to Edinburgh would take less than an hour.
Most maglev schemes sound attractive until it is appreciated how much energy is required to run them, largely because the electricity must come from usually distant power stations. Built offshore, a maglev railway would be able to use wind, wave and tidal energy ready to hand.
DALE JENKINS
Barcelona