I AM passionately interested in railways and as I was in your area last Sunday, I decided to visit the two stations at Malvern.

In spite of having a detailed map, it took about 20 minutes of driving up and down to find Malvern Link station. There would appear to be a concerted effort to hide it.

We did eventually find a sign when we were nearly on top of the station.

Malvern Link was a disappointment, as a station being little more than a glorified bus shelter, however Great Malvern was still to come and I was not too downhearted.

Driving to Great Malvern we found the way to the station well marked and arrived there with no great difficulty. We parked the car and walked across to the station hoping to get a cup of coffee only to find the caf was closed.

We walked to the booking office to find out about trains but it was closed, we needed the toilet but this was also closed. We walked onto the platform, where a number of people were sitting in the cold waiting for the next train; needless to say the waiting rooms were closed.

Great Malvern is a lovely station, the pillars and roof supports are a picture and in excellent condition having only recently been painted. It is a treasure and anyone with half a brain could see the potential both as a tourist attraction and in encouraging train travel.

Potential travellers should not have to wait in the cold with no refreshments provided and no toilet facilities. One wonders whether the train companies actually want passengers, the way they treat them.

People today want a modicum of comfort and travel by train should be a pleasant experience with people wanting to come back for more, not being left on a cold platform and vowing never to travel by train again.

Privatisation was supposed to bring the enterprise culture to the railways; I have seen little evidence so far.

COLIN PLANT, Mount Pleasant, Wareham.