LOCAL rail users who have recently been confronted with increased fares on South West Trains may be interested to know that Stagecoach, the owner of SWT, is reported to have returned £340 million to shareholders in the last year.

This includes ‘windfall’ payments of £51m to their chief executive, Sir Brian Souter, and of nearly £37m to his sister, Ann Gloag.

While shareholders are of course entitled to a fair return on their investment, and Stagecoach reportedly said of the payments ‘The return of cash to our shareholders will have no influence whatsoever on rail fares’, hard-pressed travellers may draw their own conclusions about our privatised railway.

DAVID COLLINS, Smithy’s Farm, Wareham