I may be a bit late on this. Never mind, I'm sure there will be another change in the not too distant future 
Dear David, Ed, Nick and Nigel,
Rail transport infrastructure and operation is planned in decades - and yet transport ministers come and go on an annual basis, and governments work in five year cycles where they need a positve outcome and sentiment at the end of each cycle. However, such medium term outcome needs are often inefficient and will lead in the long term to a less than optimum network for passengers, for the taxpayer, for business and the economy, for the staff and for the companies financing, maintaing and operating the network and its facilities and services.
Here are some of the issues, some of which you'll already be painfully aware of:
* Rolling electrification
* 24 x 7 services and leveling out the peaks
* A fair and understandable basis for fares
* Balancing speed and capacity, local, regional and long distance travel
* An end to costly accounting such as blame attribution
* Journey and ticket integration and information, including other transport modes
* The challenges of rising fuel costs and reducing CO2
* Rebuilding a Victorian Architecture for the reign of King Charles and even King George
* Involving passengers and the wider community in ownership and pride in the railways
* Making long use of exisitng and future trains
* Protecting revenue economically and without intimidation of honest customers
* Balancing high capacity and high comfort and facilites in trains, and luggage, wheelchairs and cycles too.
By appointing a crossbench member of the House of Lords to the role of rail minister, currently vacant and with agreement between the major parties to leave that person in place even through to a new parliament, whichever of you leads the government, you could elevate the position above politics and provide a very real chance to do provide a solid start for the long term.
A candidate for the role? Most people who work in the rail industry are excellent and dedicated - you might consider one of them; you'll certainly need someone who respects them and is respected by (or would grow to be respected by) them. Someone who's not afraid to point out bad news as well as good, and explain it thoroughly and understandably. Someone with the vision of a strategy, and with the ability to update tactics to reach the ultimate goals. I didn't, as I wrote this, have any one specific candidate in mind; it's possible that the person selected would need to be elevated to the Lords.
Please - be brave, and appoint a long term minister to help achieve what are common goals across the political spectrum - an efficient rail transport system that's fair, modern, good for business, good for the taxpayer, and good for passengers and staff
