'Waverley Station’s name is not unique' - Readers' Letters

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The Scott Monument towers over Wavrley Station in Princes Street Gardens

Waverley Station’s name is not unique

Angus Robertson MSP in his opinion piece (News, 2 November) mentioned that Edinburgh Waverley is the only station in the world to be named after a novel.

Melbourne in Australia has an “Ivanhoe” railway station named after another of Scott’s novels. Berlin in Germany has a station named “Onkel Tom’s Hütte” (Uncle Tom's Cabin) a novel by author HB Stowe. "Westward Ho!" Station in England, now closed, was named from a Charles Kingsley novel.

The Scott Monument at 61 metres doesn’t seem to be the highest dedicated to a writer. It is dwarfed by the José Martí Memorial in Havana, Cuba, which stands at 109 metres.

Alastair Murray, Edinburgh

Remove religion from remembrance

Remembrance commemorations are coming up and Church of England clerics are dusting down their cassocks.

Given that fewer than two per cent attend Anglican Church it is now time to promote these important events in a way that speaks to all, especially the young, whose interest in religion is even less.

The vital need for Remembrance to endure is not served by chaining its stewardship to the fading popularity of a minority religious belief.

Neil Barber, Edinburgh Secular Society

Tory corruption is alive and kicking

As if we needed more evidence of Tory corruption, we learn that 22 of the Tory MPs who voted to release Owen Paterson from censure after he flouted the rules on paid lobbying have been investigated by the Parliamentary Standards Committee. Of these, the Committee upheld claims against 19. Since the amendment to absolve Paterson passed by 18 votes, it’s clear it would have failed without the votes of these censured MPs.

Paterson didn’t recuse himself but voted to let himself off the hook and then went on a media bender crowing that if given the chance, he’d lobby for cash all over again.

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson left Glasgow for London in his private jet to dine with Telegraph leader writers and climate change sceptic Lord Moore at the Garrick Club. No doubt Boris is chomping at the bit resume his former £250k gig since the standards rules will be re-written to allow Tories to ‘legally’ bury their snouts in another trough.

It gives a whole new meaning to ‘it’s good to be green’, doesn’t it?

Leah Gunn Barrett, Edinburgh

Buses need to be much more reliable

As someone who has recently been forced by winter darkness to abandon my bike and rely on bus services, I feel the bus lobby would be better employed improving the reliability and convenience of their services.

My irritation is particularly focused on Lothian Buses X7 service. In recent weeks, when using this in Dunbar, my bus has finally arrived up to 30 minutes late… or not at all.

One possible reason for this is that the vehicles employed are far too long for this busy town’s streets. Drivers find it difficult to negotiate the entry to the High Street from the south and the entry to West Port from High Street. Recently I witnessed the lengthy traffic log-jam when two Lothian buses met at that junction.

I assume this experience is merely a sample of the Lothian passenger experience. Perhaps if buses were more frequent, more reliable and more suitable for our historic streets, many more people could be persuaded to use the services?

Kit Fraser, Dunbar

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