SIR – Claims that Parkway will provide a two-hour journey time to London, more frequent services and direct access to major cities in the north are all unsubstantiated. It provides a railhead for park and ride commuters but little for other rail users.
Of the £22m project cost, £14.5m is to be financed by loans serviced from parking charges of £5 per day. 
The 500 spaces would generate an annual income of £17.4m after costs assuming 80% utilisation, but the cost of repaying the debt and interest at 2.5% over 25 years would be £19.5m, so the economics are dubious.
Greater benefits could be achieved by a 1,000-space multi-storey at Shrub Hill with integral bus stop serviced at five to 10-minute intervals by buses running directly between Crowngate bus station and Worcester-shire Royal Hospital.
This would provide fast and easy access to the city centre for workers and shoppers and to Worcester Royal for hospital staff and visitors and alleviate traffic congestion in the city centre.
ROBERT HARTWRIGHT
Powick


I didn’t leave Labour, Labour left me
SIR –I recognise that The Source is supposed to be sometimes lighthearted, but Tom Edwards’ lead item on September 4 displayed a laziness and shallowness which disappointed, to say the least.
 I was characterised as having left the Labour Party “in a hissy fit”. 
The truth (which should, naturally, never be allowed to interfere with a good story) was the very opposite: along with many others, I agonised for months and years as Labour changed from a once-great political movement to a pale blue shadow of its former self, with no sense of strategic purpose or direction. 
It had been a major part of my life over three decades and I was devastated to have to take the decision which I did.
In a very real sense, I did not leave Labour; it left me.
 Similarly, any “grievance” that I might have is against those, nationally and locally, who have brought Labour to its knees by their short-termism and lack of belief and principle.
As many people are asking these days: what is Labour actually for?
 Apparently, journalism, as well as the Labour Party (and, perhaps, nostalgia), are not what they used to be. In any event, I am very happy to have found a new “home”, the Green Party, where there is both belief and principle, as well as a freshness, a morality and a commitment to face up to the real challenges that confront us, locally, nationally and globally.
DAVID BARLOW
Worcester
 
We can all play our part helping refugees
SIR – I am glad that so much public opinion is forming in support of a humane response to the refugee crisis. I echo the words of the Archbishop of Canterbury about ‘the
need for a holistic response to this crisis that meets immediate humanitarian need while tackling its underlying drivers’.
Like the Bishop of Worcester I welcome the Prime Minister’s promise to fulfil what he described as our ‘moral responsibility’ by accepting ‘thousands more’ Syrian refugees.  
Government, local authorities, charities, faith groups and individuals all have their parts to play in meeting the needs of the refugees, while supporting all responsible efforts to address the causes of the crisis. 
The Cathedral Chapter is actively considering what contribution the Cathedral can make to this, and I hope to say more about this in the days to come. In the meantime, my wife and I are aware that we live in a house that is larger than our needs. We hope to give shelter to a refugee family as quickly as it can be arranged.
 PETER ATKINSON
Dean of Worcester

Do we really want more people here?
SIR – Having watched hours of, in some cases, sensationalised news regarding the refugee crisis, we have now been told that we will take in more. 
Europe tells us we have to take in our quota, so we do. This is done when since March this year we have taken in 300.000 Europeans and others. 
Mr Cameron, WE ARE FULL! We cannot look after our own, feed or house them or even provide in some cases shelter. 
Also, has anyone questioned why a majority of these people are young men who, when granted asylum, will bring in families, again inflating our already bursting bubble. 
“The people of Britain want the government to take in more”.  
DO WE REALLY? I don’t think we do. Mr Walker. whose party was voted in on a promise of reducing immigration, has yet again failed.
DAVE CLAYTON
Worcester

Thank you, drivers
SIR – May I through your letters page ask if you would allow me to say thank you so very much to two very kind bus drivers who came to help me when I fell in the bus station around lunchtime on Tuesday, September 1. They then got on to No33 and No34 buses.
I am sure I did not thank them enough. 
PEGGY BETTAM
Worcester

Kindness appreciated
SIR – John, Dawn and Darren, the paramedics who came to my flat and then took me to A&E, I cannot thank them enough for their kindness.
I wish Darren good luck with his exams in a few months’ time.
A WOODYATT,
Worcester