Robert Walls salutes Japan’s high-speed trains and says they have the edge over travel by car

Cathy Swann says that it may not be appropriate to have a high-speed rail network in our “small and densely populated island” (Letters, 19 October). The world’s most reliable and comfortable high-speed trains run through the narrow strip of land between Tokyo and Osaka, which has a population larger than that of the UK.

In spite of the influence of their car industry, the Japanese have long understood that while the motor vehicle may be ideal in the fastnesses of Arizona or New Mexico, it is entirely unsuitable as the primary method of transport in crowded islands.
Robert Walls
Camberley, Surrey