ALL attractions and resorts are crowded. All forms of transport are congested to a virtual standstill. It must be a Bank Holiday weekend, supposedly a time for fun, recreation and relaxation.

With the sun promising to shine over the weekend, it is clear that our country struggles to cope when the vast majority of the public are off at the same time.

Perhaps the time has come to question the wisdom of having public holidays away from Christmas, New Year and Easter.

Would it not be better for all concerned to scrap some of the Bank Holidays and instead give people the time off when it suits them?

What is for sure, is that our railways have not added to the appeal of this particular Bank Holiday.

The closure of several sections of main lines mean that there will be inevitable delays for passengers this weekend.

However, we have some sympathy with the rail authorities. They are in a no-win situation.

No one disputes the fact that our railways are in dire need of improvement and investment, after successive periods of neglect.

Closing sections of track is often the only way engineering work can be carried out.

Inconvenience is inevitable. The task facing the authorities is to find the least inconvenient time.

There is no reason to dispute the findings of research among train company passengers which suggest that regular travellers prefer work done over an intensive period rather than be a long-drawn out affair.

And while work over a weekend may have an impact on thousands of people, work during a normal week will have an impact on a great many more and have a knock-on effect for the national economy.

Inconvenience is unavoidable. But surely, of the options, it is best to look after the interests of regular passengers rather than infrequent leisure passengers.

We cannot call for improvements to be done on our railways, and then criticise when those improvements are being carried out.