I READ with increasing incredulity the comments by Tim Phillips about the Guided Bus (Letters, March 31). First he suggests constructing the guideway alongside the A14. As if the disruption caused by the works to upgrade it would not be bad enough but to

I READ with increasing incredulity the comments by Tim Phillips about the Guided Bus (Letters, March 31).

First he suggests constructing the guideway alongside the A14. As if the disruption caused by the works to upgrade it would not be bad enough but to make it even worse seems madness. But then Cast.Iron did suggest at one time that a railway line could be run along one carriageway of the A14 between St Ives and Godmanchester.

We may all despair at BAM Nuttall's failure to deliver within months of the agreed contract date. That delay, however, pales into insignificance when we consider the delay in delivering the upgraded A14 by the Department for Transport. It will be years, if ever, before we see this scheme completed.

Routeing the guided buses via the A14 would take them away from one of the main places that they will serve, Northstowe. How will the residents of the new town access the heart of Cambridge? Their main route, whether by bus or car, will be via Huntingdon Road, which will become clogged with traffic, especially at peak hours. This is precisely the route that the guided buses will access the city. The delays buses experience at present travelling between St Ives and the A14 will be insignificant when compared with those Huntingdon Road.

And finally, we have the suggestion that a railway should have been provided. Mr Phillips may scorn the idea that buses "go where people want to go" but at least they serve the residential parts of St Ives and the centre of Cambridge, along with may other places of employment and eventually the heart of Northstowe. This is something that the railway would not do with its stations on the edge of St Ives and Northstowe and well away from Cambridge city centre.

Having read the letter, I glanced at my calendar. Of course, it was April 1. Well done Mr Phillips, you had me fooled.

JOHN HOLMES

Waveney Road

St Ives