Railway debate

Railway debate

The government is planning to spend large sums of money on transport over the next few years, but there is a great danger much of it will be wasted. The railway system is a dreadful state, strike ridden, with low morale and many cancelled trains.

The road network is inadequate, with people struggling to get to train and bus stations.

What we want is a system that works – one where we can get to work in the morning and home in the evening without too much hassle; one where our children can get to school and college safely and easily; one where we can drive to do the shopping or to visit friends and relatives who live cross country from us.

It shouldn't be that difficult, given the cash and the power the government possesses to put things right. I propose today a six point programme:

• Boost capacity on trains and buses so there is a chance of getting a seat. This will mean longer platforms for more carriages, and more frequent services. We are short of train and bus capacity at the morning and evening peaks.
• Put good commuter car parks at railway and bus stations, and at all the outlying London tube stations. Parking should be free or low cost for the train traveller, with security in the car park.
• Reduce the constraints on road traffic trying to reach the stations. There are too many “traffic management” mistakes on main roads to stations. Introduce left turning on red lights (as in the US), and lane separation wherever possible for right turning traffic at junctions. Have more traffic sensitive traffic lights.
• Increase the capacity of the road network – dual the rest of the A3 around Hindhead, complete the dualling of the A303, expand ringway capacity around London and Birmingham, provide extra road capacity along the south coast and to the east coast ports. Some of these new roads could be tolled.
• Create the Londoners' Tube. Give free shares to all Londoners and season ticket holders, develop commuter car parks and service areas at outlying stations, and underground shopping malls in some central locations. Introduce air conditioning throughout the network.
• Develop new technology, both for the commuter railway and the high speed long distance railway. Solve some of the traction problems which steel wheels on steel track cause by new materials, dealing with “leaves on the line” and the “wrong kind of snow”.

I am proposing a plan for a proper integrated transport policy in the Wokingham district, based on redevelopment of Wokingham Station as a transport interchange. The plan includes a new road link to the station from the A327, new car parking facilities, a bus interchange, and commercial development to help pay for the project. I urge the government to support this, and to instruct Railtrack in administration to get on with schemes like this which could change the image and the usage of the railway.