Woman helped across the road by a firefighter Credit: Cllr Paul Convery

• ONCE again a water main has burst under a main road, (Big clear-up begins after burst pipe floods Caledonian Road, November 2). It can’t be the water pressure that is doing it.

Once upon a time, goods used to be transported along dedicated rail tracks. Now they mostly come down motorways in heavy goods vehicles. The HGVs do not stop when they reach the boundaries of London; they proceed over city streets and roads.

The damage done by a HGV to a road and whatever lies underneath, such as a water main, is proportional to the fourth power of the axle weight of the HGV. Ten times the axle weight, 10,000 times the damage.

This has been pointed out to the Mayor of London without even receiving a reply. The only solution is to put heavy goods and container transport back on rail, opening up London’s closed railway lines and stations, such as Smithfield Goods. What does rail enthusiast Jeremy Corbyn have to say?

IVOR KENNA
Acting convener, The Finsbury Forum,
Compton Street, EC1