February 22, 2001 11:08: SOME readers are a little tired at being repeatedly referred to as NIMBYs because we continue to fault the Central Railway plans.

Of course we need to express concern about all the noise, both during construction/maintenance (in the small hours) and during operation.

First the noise: currently this is unintrusive, yet during a daytime walk in Warren Wood, about mile from the line, the sound of steel wheels on steel track was almost as loud as close by, even though the line here is in a valley. The sound of the engine was inaudible.

This suggests a noise footprint of about two miles, more if the railway runs about the terrain. Yet these trains will be faster and much heavier.

Second, it appears to need funding by the taxpayer for construction and, if the projections of profitability are over-optimistic, will continue to do so.

Third, the already discussed effect on current passenger services: the notion that the development will improve these defies logic.

Fourth, we live on a chalk substrate which incidentally dissolves in the carbonic acid of the rather heavy rain we continue to experience (hence the hard water).

If one adds that chalk is a good transmitter of vibration, subsidence of your home seems foreseeable (no, you are not fully insured, read the small print).

So even if you pay no tax, never travel on the Chiltern line, enjoy the sound of goods trains, and think you live at a safe distance, insist that Central Railways commission a seismological survey. You may join the NIMBYs yet.

Frank Brunner, Station Road, High Wycombe