Sir - James Styring (Letters, December 1) is right to remind us that the environmental situation in the High Street is now significantly better than before the introduction of the Oxford Transport Strategy and the removal of cars and lorries using it as a through-route.

I cannot agree, though, with his suggestion of removing the current buses and replacing them with a shuttle system of trams running from the railway station to The Plain.

Leaving aside the cost of such a scheme, if one imagines a shopper returning home to, say, Wheatley, one has to ask how attractive it would be for them to wait for at tram in Queen Street and catch this for the minute or so to The Plain, and then disembark and wait for another bus to take them on, either directly home or to the park-and-ride.

If anything were to persuade people to transfer their shopping to Oxford's competing towns, as our traders constantly warn us is a danger, then adding this inconvenience to travel into the city centre would be it.

A further issue that has not been thought through by those who repeatedly put this suggestion, is that the trams require stabling and maintenance facilities - and that this has to be on, or connected to, the rest of the network to allow the trams to reach it.

I cannot think that the powers-that-be, who are developing their plans for the redevelopment of the West End, would have a tram yard as one of their favourite options for using the land available at Oxpens and I cannot think of any other location around central Oxford where such could be located.

William Richter, Oxford