27/04/2001 00:00
TW
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The SFM Majorcan railway company is to be invited to a bi-annual conference on airport rail links in Madrid this summer by Rail News, a British magazine which organises the international event. The magazine's owner and editor John Wilber, who read about the Palma airport link project in the Bulletin two weeks ago, believes that the conference could prove highly beneficial for those behind the Palma plan. “I'm sure they will learn a few lessons from other countries, such as the United Kingdom and Hong Kong who have been expanding their airport rail links,” he said. Wilbur, who was keen to try out the new Inca to Sa Pobla rail link, said that he is very impressed with the rail service on the island, albeit restricted “but compared to other metro links in the world it is very efficient.” “It needs a bit of fine tuning, but the carriages are first class, better than most in the UK, the staff were very helpful and it was a good ride.” “It was to the minute on time in both directions, but I think that during the peak season, the frequency of the services needs to be improved and perhaps a few later trains laid on.” But Wilber did say that the line needs more publicity, he explained that the hotel in which he was staying along the Playa de Muro did not even know the line had been extended and were most grateful when he presented reception with a time table. “It appears that using the train does not come in many people's equation, and that has to change,” he said. “On the whole the service is very good, perhaps a bit more customer relations and better maps in the carriages, also some of the newly reformed stations are not labelled so tourists do not know where they are.” Rail News is a big supporter of airport links “the links to Gatwick, Stanstead and Heathrow have generated a huge amount of traffic as people realise it is far less hassle than driving to the airport and I have seen the large volume of traffic in Palma and it is a nightmare, the train is the answer”, he said.