CANBER - Campaign Against New Beeching Report

1. I'm "John Smith". I live in Tavistock - or Hunstanton, or Fleetwood or Melksham, or Polesworth or Snaith or Galashiels, or Portishead. And I need to travel to Plymouth or Swindon or London or Birmingham or Manchester ... a journey for which rail would be my top choice. Except ... there is no service or the service on offer is inadequate - so inadequate that I'm forced into my car (if I'm lucky enough to have one and be healthy enough to drive) or a bus or taxi.

The petition has now closed with 643 signatures (plus any who signed up before the deadline but have not yet validated their signatures) so many thanks again to all those who signed (link below.)
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/walsallrail/

Calls are growing for the Government to intervene to save the service (link below.)
http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-transport-news/2008/10/...

In a development of my interest in local rail issues - particularly the welfare of my own beloved station at Nailsea & Backwell, and the clear need to re-open the Portishead line to passengers – I’ve been looking at other campaigns, which are also worthy of support.

As you probably suspected, from my heading, Corsham Station was indeed closed - in the Beeching era! However, it was nearly re-opened, a few years ago, when finance and planning were approved – but the rail industry then withdrew the only trains that could have stopped at the new station, and the plans were put on hold.

Over the next two weeks, work to install a passing loop on the FALMOUTH line will begin, allowing an enhanced service to operate. First Great Western's Devon & Cornwall customers can also look forward to improved timetables on the BARNSTAPLE, GUNNISLAKE and NEWQUAY lines.

However, in others areas of the country, the outlook is not so rosy.

The new EAST MIDLANDS PARKWAY station, which was due to open in December 2008, "could be seen as a cornerstone of efforts to tackle the region's transport problems", according to its supporters.

Almost daily the country, and wider world, are being rocked by the latest body-blow in the financial crisis. The £50bn 'bail-out' of our major banks announced a few days ago will have a huge impact on what money can be spent by Government in the short-term. Gordon Brown has already said that spending on 'public services' will not be affected. Between them the annual cost of running the two main public services - health and education - costs us around £200bn, so, whilst significant, £50bn does not sound like a killer blow. But where will they find the money from?

Many thanks to everyone who has signed our petition, urging the Prime Minister to reverse the planned withdrawal of the Walsall-Wolverhampton passenger rail service which is due to take effect in December 2008. Over 200 of you have done so already (link below.)
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/walsallrail/

Thanks also to those organisations who are publicising the petition (example links below.)
http://www.walsall.gov.uk/

http://www.centro.org.uk/rail/railintro.asp

http://www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/

http://www.bettertransport.org.uk/canber

The Government is offering funding for major transport schemes - it's asking every region to write a list saying what the money should be spent on. The Regional Funding Allocation (RFA2) sounds boring but it's a major opportunity to get funding for rail improvements.

Let's campaign for the good projects (new railway lines, new train carriages) and against the bad ones (new roads).

Find out how at http://www.bettertransport.org.uk/local_campaigning/online_guides/region...

In Ruth Kelly's resignation speech at the Labour Party Conference yesterday, she said the Government is considering electrifying the rail network and opening new railway lines.

Electrification would be very good for passengers and for the environment - provided that it's not used as an excuse for coal-fired or nuclear power stations. New lines are clearly needed to enable more people to travel by train and to reduce overcrowding.

In December 2008, the Walsall-Wolverhampton passenger rail service will be withdrawn.

It is a vital link for many Walsall and Wolverhampton residents, providing a quick and reliable connection between the two boroughs and giving much needed access to connecting rail services. Existing bus services take over 40 minutes to cover the 15-minute rail journey.

This particular campaign is rather close to home for me personally. Some seven years ago, we rented a property in Portishead, while I commuted into Bristol. That daily journey, using the only public transport available (the bus, along the A369) was a bit of a nightmare then – and it still is, apparently! In fact, one of the reasons we decided to buy a property outside Portishead was the need for a sensible journey to work time for me. Nailsea, with a frequent rail link, was ideal – so, rather reluctantly, we moved out of Portishead.