Just imagine if 90 per cent of our motorways had only one lane in each direction. That is the situation on most of our rail routes, except for relatively short stretches close to London and a few other cities. Yet we complain of inefficiency and lack of capacity on our railways. The government should have a programme of progressively adding an extra pair of tracks to the main lines, to increase capacity; at quieter times one pair could then be closed for repairs while trains continue to run on the other pair.

Even so, rail staff should continue to have their day off at Christmas. Why can't we all be content to stay put for one day? All the large shops are closed, rightly.

Barry, Wallington, UK

Why cant people just have 2 days off over Christmas, Christmas is a time for families, not for working. people need to have time away from work, this country is becoming a workaholic nation a nation that shops till it drops with money they don't have, if the government want to improve the standard of living they need to give more holidays where everyone stops working, whatever happened to bank holidays, where nothing was open giving everyone a rest. i think shops are getting to greedy and we are sleepwalking into a nation of stressed out overpaid workers. all this from a student, you should be worried. i sure am...

Pete, london, Uk

Dear Cy from London,
we are in the 21st Century now.

Ted, Weston-super-mare, UK

Erm....why on earth didn't they think of doing this before? These techniques existed already. Good news, but years too late.

Alison, London,

I can bet with certainty that all those who clammer for rail service on Christmas and Boxing Day don't work these days themselves but are quite willing to have someone else work for their convenience.
To Adegbola: "I still think Christmas should be a work free day for everyone" - all nurses and moms included in this statement I assume.

Soupcon, Toronto,

From what I've seen, I'll bet there are plenty of British rail employees from non-Christian backgrounds who would work Christmas day in return for having their own holidays off. I don't see why the rail companies should pay overtime to people who don't need Christmas off for religious reasons. I'm Jewish and didn't mind working on Dec. 25th at all so that my Christian colleagues could have the day off. In return, I had all the Jewish holidays off I wanted.

alice, salado, us/tx

Some of us travel only at weekends, and are the permanent duty victims.

For every Sunday the trains are replaced with buses (and that's sometimes EVERY Sunday) why don't we define one Tuesday in four to share the load?

When I buy a rail ticket, usually at the weekend, it would be nice to travel on a train once in a while.

Phil Payne, Sheffield,

Doesn't anyone have a family anymore? No wonder the divorce rate is going through the roof if companies are forcing people to work over Christmas. Believe it or not, whatever your views of Christmas it is still a time to spend with families and that's where we all start. Boxing day, so far as I'm aware, is also a time for families, not shopping. Let's get real, there's no point getting worked up over the Christmas period if we have to work or travel over that time as well.
Whenever I have looked out of my window the streets are deserted which is how it should be at this time, so where is the demand exactly?

Maria, London, UK

I think it's a great idea to run them on Boxing Day (particularly after having found myself stranded this Boxing Day after being led to believe by the woman I had bought my ticket from that the trains were running). Not Christmas Day though - some holidays should just be left alone.

However, that said, there are people in this country who don't celebrate Christmas. I believe (and I'm sure I'll get shot down here if I'm wrong) that people of some religions get their holy days off work (Muslims for example) so perhaps there could be an opt out scheme and those who don't celebrate Christmas that work for the rail companies could run a reduced service. Perhaps. Just an idea although I don't know if there is enough non-Christmas celebrating resource for this to work.

Louise, London, UK

To all those asking 'why should I work at Christmas?' just remember that there are legions of Poles, Latvians and other 'new Europeans' who would be delighted to take your jobs, and the wages and perks that go with them. So, yes, you may not like it, and yes, no doubt Crowe and the 'old guard' will try and put a spanner in the works, but read the runes, lads, the country has changed, and perhaps so should you tool. There are plenty of people who routinely work on public holidays; police, firemen, ambulance workers, NHS staff, power station workers, even people like First Direct bank - so why should train drivers (who are supposed to provide a service to the travelling public) be any different? [oh, and I have worked on Christmas day before, so I know whereof I speak; it's not that bad, really...]

andrew mashkov, London,

To CY in London i think it is only human to have some ampathy for the train drivers. They are people with families too and apart from their job and probably pay, they are no different to you or me. I am not a train driver and dont work with any rail company but working a staff into the ground won't improve the service and the public also have a responsibility towards people who provide such an essential service. To Mario in Herts. I hope you are ready to become a night time train driver. I see alot going wrong with that kind of service, for one increase in crime, more policing will be needed, more accidents due to (drivers sleeping at the wheel, over speeding, kids playing on the tracks e.t.c). Rerouting trains due to engineering works. there is a long list of incidents that are very much likely to happen. I think sorting out the current problems will be a huge start rather than pile more problems to an already exisitng basket case.

Adegbola, London, England

i am regular commuter and i'd be very happy to swop x-mas day trains for trains running on time on normal days. really! lets start by doing something we're supposed to do in the first place shall we.

n, harrow, uk

You don't need trains on Christmas Day. After all fares will be put up again to pay for the wages of the staff that will be made to work Christmas Day.

Matt, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire

We don't need a PR exercise telling us that trains will run on Cristmas Day, we need trains that run properly, cleanly and with seats available the rest of the year

David, St Albans, UK

i hope Mr Coucher will be working christmas day and boxing day too.

andy, norwich, england

A Jolly Christmas Carol for the 21st Century

Ding, dong,
Merrily on high,
Trains might run
and pigs might fly

Gordon Alexander, Frome, UK

Are Ian Coucher, cy And Mario working xmas day and boxing day? If you are off for these days please don't force others to work.

John, Brighton,

To train drivers who wouldn't work on Christmas Day...are the railways a service to you or to the public? Self interest is not going to reduce our dependency on road travel. We don't need drivers on the DLR, so maybe it's time to look at this on other lines too. Welcome to the 20th century.

cy, London,

Every day? Except, I bet, Worst Late Western, the most delayed, most cancelled, most overcrowded train company in the country.

julia, london,

These are very good ideas and I hope that that the unions do not railroad them (excuse the pun).
And its not just Christmas and Boxing days. It would be nice if the trains ran throughout the night on New Years Eve.
But lets not stop there. Once we have replaced the lines and improved the track, why not have a (reduced) train service throughout the night, 7 days a week, 52 weeks of the year?

Mario, Cheshunt, Herts,

Would passengers rather engineering works done safely or quickly? I am sure that there would be uproar if there was an accident because a team of Network Rail staff only had 4 hours to replace a junction overnight instead of 24 for a Saturday or Sunday... Of course it would be the railways fault though, because the customer demands a train, not a bus replacing said train... and the customer is always right!

Christmas Day working is a joke.... surely? I wonder if passengers will agree to pay the premium that it will bring. Taxi's charge Double Time, so I hope that rail passengers on Christmas Day are happy to pay double as well?? Ohhhhh no I forget, this is Public (Private) Transport (Company)...

Which brings us onto the fares strike. So FGW passengers are happy to prevent the staff doing their work by checking dud tickets? So when the fare evaders join them and their ticket prices go up Janurary 2, 2009, WHO IS TO BLAME?? Oh yes the railway for not checking their tickets ....

Darren, Portsmouth,

I was always under the impression that Network Rail did offer a service over Christmas, but it is the Train Operting Companies who don't want it.
I assume it would be a reduced service, rather than tyhe 'intense' Mon-Sat, thus there would be a better chnace to run right time, less trains but longer trains?
Can't see the point on the 25th, but they should run on 26th, as said most places are open and people have to work nowadays.

Steve, clacton, uk

It is disingenuous of Coucher to make these assertions. One of the good reasons for total route closure to implement major upgrades (not maintenance) is to avoid the lost time in setting up the work site and then re-instating the working railway once per day. That would be a natural consequence of Coucher's proposal (which has, of course been tried before).
To do that only extends the time and costs taken to complete of the job and increases the probability of regular train delays caused by the daily late handback of a working railway. The real problem that Coucher has is his own inability to manage the work. That is what he will never admit.

RichardCr, Baden, Switzerland

At long last, it looks as if Britain may be taking the first steps to catch up with Japan in terms of mass rail transport. It has long been standard practice here to carry out engineering work on tracks in the early hours of the morning before the first trains start running.

akai ringo, Tokyo,

Great !! as a train driver I dont get to have Christmas and Boxing day with my family.The job is unsociable as it is anyway we work all bank holidays New Years day but I accept that but I an not prepared to work those two days.

Mark, Brighton, West Sussex

Isn't it time we had a rail system fit for the 21st Century? We're put to shame by the modern high speed links in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, etc, etc. We're starting to see the benefits with the new Eurostar link - only 13 years after the tunnel opened.

If we have such a successful economy and forward thinking government, why can't we afford these? Even one line - London to Birmingham to Manchester would make a huge difference.

Rob, Birmingham,

Can we start with sensible ambitions? Rather than having trains run 365 days a year, can we just have the trains that are intended to run currently arrive and depart on time, and without overcrowding? Or is this too boring, prosaic but difficult an ambition to announce?

Mark, Wokingham, UK

Other countries in Europe do trains much better than we do. It is not rocket science. Come on! The railways should either be taken seriously as part of an integrated public transport system or scrapped. This is scab-picking.

Jack Bloxam, Edinburgh,

I dont get it. Why should there be a rail service on christmas day? Can't we have one day of the year to ourselves and our families? Look how long it took to sort engineering problems out even when the trains weren't running on christmas day. I can see the effect of this hollow promise. Turn christmas day into an ordinary day like what happened to sundays. Can you immagine the dissappointment on christmas day, trains running late or cancelled. Hope from the hopeless. This will only lead to a higher rise in fairs and shorter services throughout the year. We are not the rest of europe we are a christian nation and i our traditions distinguish us from the rest of europe. I still think Christmas should be a work free day for everyone.

Adegbola, London, England

Perhaps this story would work better if 2008 wasn't a leap year...

Kevin, Beijing, China