AS you say in your comment (D&S Times, August 25) “Wensleydale Railway supporters have done amazing things since they first gathered, initially in 1990 to save the line”.

Indeed they have, many thousands of them – with the support of a much wider public – leading to the return of passenger trains to the dale in 2003 (predicted by many in 1990 as impossible); extension of the service to Redmire in 2004; the return of seasonal steam trains in 2008; guided walks from stations; on-train musical events and Santa Specials etc.

All with widespread benefits to tourism and the local economy.

Now the board of Wensleydale Railway plc has notified its shareholders and association members that it proposes to sell Aysgarth station, the golden asset of the line, for use as a private ‘hobby’ railway.

This sale will not include any binding legal protection for the trackbed and platforms, which will immediately be lost to the railway – and its volunteers who have worked so hard to maintain and care for it since 1997.

The brief notice of sale casts aside more than a quarter of a century of stated Wensleydale Railway policy, supported by statutory authorities and councils, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, transport specialists and many local personalities, councils and the other organisations which have provided funding for feasibility studies and development.

It would also prevent improvements that would increase the contribution that this rural site, in its delightful woodland setting, could make to the long-term future of the Wensleydale Railway and surrounding local communities, Your leader comment also told us that “many [Wensleydale Railway] members have contacted the paper to voice their concern”. Is this surprising?

Perhaps it is time for the board to withdraw from the present proposal and engage with the many supporters of the Wensleydale Railway in an open and transparent consideration of how to turn the financial position around.

Ruth Annison, Askrigg (chairman, Wensleydale Railway plc 2005-2009)