Thr response to the book has been fantastic, and the sales figures very gratifying. Thanks to everyone who has written to me, on this site and privately. I am very grateful to those who have pointed out errors. Luckily, they all seem to be small ones. But I will incorporate the changes in the paperback edition, due out next spring.

That wil also include an update, incorporating this year’s astonishing events, most particularly the rush – after 180 years inaction – towards High Speed Rail linking Britain’s major cities. That’s gratifying too, though anyone who has read Eleven Minutes Late might pause for a little scepticism.

This plan is coming from one energetic minister at the fagend of a government seemingly facing inevitable defeat in 2010 and in the midst of an economic crisis. Precisely the kind of situation where, in the British experience, grand plans end up being junked. Readers’ thoughts welcome.

From the potentially sublime to the utterly ridiculous: the one point which has brought out the earnest tendency in the readership is the business of fares. Heaps of people have insisted to me that railway travel is very cheap really, if you play the operators’ game and book in advance.

That may work for some people who know precisely what trains they want to catch weeks ahead. But it’s crazy. Britain’s railway has one huge advantage over most others (to offset the disadvantages): frequency.

What’s the virtue of that if you are banned from missing one train and catching another because you face, in effect, penal fines? What’s the point of travelling from the provinces to London for pleasure if you cannot cope with the football match going to extra time? If you can’t suddenly decide to see a show or have a meal – and then go home? What if you’re in business and your meeting overruns?

I’ve tried buying tickets in advance and the stress is intolerable.

How can I cope with that?

How come Britain, which invented the railways and is many ways obsessed by them, seems incapable of running them?

Why do passengers pay the highest fares in the world yet the taxpayer still hands over almost £5 billion a year in subsidy?

Why is a high-speed railway network taking shape across Europe with Britain linked by one branch line?

Why is this country incapable of taking long-term investment decisions?

Matthew Engel pins the blame primarily on nearly two centuries of bad government decisions but also fingers many other suspects – including the British people, for their refusal to complain.

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