Major gap

SIR, - I read your article about seamless travel from Harpenden to France with great interest (Herts Advertiser, June 19). My wife and I are great Eurostar fans and have made half a dozen trips from Waterloo over the past few years. The opening of St Pancras International is great for those of us living in this area and the possibility of seamless travel from Harpenden to the continent is certainly making the journey much more relaxed for most people.

However we recently went to Paris from St Pancras and would have liked to have taken the train from Harpenden. However for the likes of us in our 70s and those with mobility problems this is still not as easy as you suggest. We actually ended up going to St Pancras by car and from then on the journey was certainly seamless and relaxing. You mentioned the previous problems of having to struggle with luggage across London and that now there is a short and easy transfer from the FCC platform to the Eurostar terminal on the flat without stairs or escalators to negotiate; this is true.

However have you thought of the problems for the elderly or less mobile in getting onto the train at Harpenden? To get over to the platform you have to negotiate two flights of steep stairs and struggle with the luggage. As far as I know there is no lift or other facilities. In the "good old days" there were porters available to handle your luggage. These have long ago become extinct!

We look forward to the day when our stations provide the same facilities as the wonderful St Pancras terminal. If this ever happens we will all be able to enjoy seamless travel.

JOHN LEE,

North Common, Redbourn.