Sir, – Pat Mullen (March 13th) decries the notion of passengers carried by a post vehicle. Yet in the UK, the Royal Mail has long operated a rural post bus service that still carries 50, 000 passengers annually as well as delivering and collecting mail twice a day. It operates as far apart as Leicestershire and the Scottish highlands and islands. The service varies from region to region, with more remote areas only seeing one service a day, although most places have two. You can hail the bus at any point along its route, without a need for bus stops.
As a city dweller (and a postman’s daughter), I admit I have always had a romantic view of such a community-based service. Despite this, I feel that combining two important purposes does seem eminently practical in rural areas. – Yours, etc,
CHRISTINE MILLS,
Churchtown, Dublin 14.