This debate forum should also have asked for our ages. Many of the comments hark back to some bygone era where spending 12-plus hours on a train was a viable method of transport. I’m sure in those days Britain had a railway revered and respected the world over. This, however, is no longer the case. The French have cleaner, faster railways; the Japanese have the bullet train and here in Shanghai is the pinnacle of railway engineering: the Maglev. Why would anybody in their right mind want to try to sleep in a small bed while the train "clackety clacks" over under-funded and outmoded rails? On a Maglev you could leave London in the early evening and two hours later be booking into a hotel in Edinburgh for a proper night's sleep in a conventional bed. Isn’t it time we ripped up the decrepit east and west-coast mainlines and installed a system that would return us to the apex of engineering excellence? Alan Sibley, Shanghai, China

My husband and I used the train from London to Inverness several times. It was great. Don't let it go. It's not a luxury, but a necessity. Margaret Wilkinson, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Sleepers are not only convenient and comfortable but they offer an alternative to flying for travellers short on time. Removing the service will simply result in more people flying and fewer taking the train, which of course is terrible for the environment. The Government should subsidise an expansion in - and cheaper fares for - trains in general and sleepers in particular, for environmental reasons alone. In the modern world the Government needs to take more of a hand and realise that quality of life and the environment are far more important than the ideology of market forces. Richard Milne, Edinburgh

Why not simply increase the cost of the ticket so that they don't make a loss? That way the people who want to use them can - but at a fair price. Jamie Brown, Maidstone, Kent

I appreciate that sustaining heritage costs money and that at the end of the day someone has to pay for someone else's magical mystery tour. So how about the owners of these cherished pastimes syndicating the opportunities to people who can make money out of heritage, tourism and simply decent marketing. Could pragmatic accounting actually remove the apparent losses or are the reasons for eliminating these loss making services more deeply corporate? Is the loss of the sleeper experience the end of life as we know it? No probably not but it will represent another subtle and unnecessary reduction in our quality life style and another unseen victory for the jet set who will continue to pollute our skies above the empty tracks below. Vernon King, Moscow, Russia

Having travelled to Glasgow both by train and plane, there is no contest - the sleeper wins every time. I could arrive at 6:30, sit and enjoy breakfast, then walk to my destination and be ready to start work at 7:30. The plane involved leaving home horribly early, getting a car to the airport, with an expensive taxi journey into the city at the other end, arriving at 10:30, if you were lucky. using the train, I was able to work into the evening, enjoy a meal and a pint, then have a comfortable overnight journey back to London. I would be very sorry to see this service discontinued. Erica Brett, Winchester

I know quite a few people who use the London - Cornwall sleeper train. For people who find it a strain to go between the two places but, nevertheless, have little choice other than flying (which is the environmentally unfriendly alternative), the abandonment of this service shows a total lack of understanding and sympathy towards a society that is becoming alien and disjointed. The line is used by both commuters and people visiting their relatives and is a comfortable, enjoyable and humane mode of transport. This is probably why some plonker in an over powerful position would like to do away with the service. Sorry to rant but it’s another kick in the back from a country firmly in decline due to the narrow view of the "people upstairs". Nick Breeze, London

I have travelled to Scotland and Cornwall as a child and an adult and I do not know of a more comfortable and convenient way to make the trip. It is especially convenient when I arrive in London, jet lagged, from the west coast of the USA. There has to be enough marketing and operational talent somewhere in the UK to make this unique travel concept profitable! Andrew Shaddock, Manhattan Beach, California

It is not relevant to state that the sleeper loses money. What is important is the cost and quality of the overall service between the periphery and the capital city. I expect that if the morning Golden Hind train from Penzance to London was studied in isolation we would find that the large number of premium fare passengers means that this train makes a huge profit. Kenneth Hunter, Plymouth

I have an abiding memory as a teenager of using the motorail service, which combined with the sleeper. The car was loaded onto the train at midnight, we found our berths and fell asleep wearily. We awoke at around 6:30am to a steaming hot cup of tea and Highland shortbread biscuits, travelling sedately through mist-covered mountains. No plane journey is this civilised or comfortable, and as a way of starting a holiday it can't be beaten. As for the environment - well surely thats "all good" too - at least compared to plane travel. Paul Conway, Sale

My father was a signalman for British Rail for forty years. All our family holidays were spent travelling across Britain and Europe using sleeper trains. I still use this form of travel whenever possible. Please do not destroy this convenient, relaxed mode of travel just to appease the money gods. There is surely room in the industry for a little subsidised romance in these rush-rush times. Carol Hall, Wolverton