Clearly the same old rhetoric many pro-rail campaigners face of in-depth questions to lay people which really the officials and agencies should be examining and answering, not avoiding leaving campaigners in the lurch. Yes, there's a call to do one's homework, but that is over-killed without respect to the goals trying to be brought about. Roads abound and get massive investment from conception of "wouldn't it be nice if..." to cutting ribbons. Whereas local rail reopenings face a huge challenge to get agency started, organised, sustained and running to empower local people to advocate a rail idea for benefit and wider improvement. This line is a junior to the idea of a full-blown rebuild to modern rail use of Woodhead, but in a top 10, is a key candidate because it would:
1. provide east-west linkages by rail currently not available
2. enable footfall and spend otherwise not available minus the traffic
3. enable traffic reduction strategies for lowering emissions to be realised en-masse
4. does have a track-record of community support amidst those detractors who play the pied piper of being critical and slightly cynical, luring people away rather than encouraging investment?
BRTA supports numerous rail reopenings and improvements in the North and wants unity for a cohesive strategy to move them all towards delivery. Who pays can be answered in what are we trying to achieve? Regeneration? Land saved? better environment? cleaner air? sustainability of social, economic, environmental and moral cohesion? Modal choice for greener modal shift? One reopening can offer all this, a top 10 delivered over a 10 year period from now, could do much, much more of the goodies the government says it wants, including of course economic growth and more employment!
Please email your local MP about these things: https://members.
Please add your voices of support to local rail reopenings like Colne-Skipton and elsewhere.
Interesting they think I'm based in Kent (furthest south?! However, in true Midland style, BRTA is sometimes a double-header to share the load! We will continue to make in-roads whatever the setbacks or location and bridge gaps for opportunities for membership, volunteering and moving agendas forward in a difficult set of dynamics 'as ever'.
Please see our excellent website: https://brtarail.com/our-campaigns/ and other excellent pages reformed and improved by our excellent webmaster.
BRTA is a team and is doing sterling work regardless of the shenanigans of some other organisations who act in a 'push-pull' manner sometimes, like half hearted to full-blown reopening programmes and agendas. They shy away from being bold, but the road lobby doesn't. With more people and resources,
BRTA could do a lot more. That is the choice and challenge, but most reopenings have exceeded the expected predictions of usage and many rail journalists were sceptical about the Borders Railway as a long truncated branch or even as a through route to Carlisle, but carried about 3 million in the first 2 years!
The Northumberland Line has performed like-wise and if Labour are serious about regeneration, growth and sustainability, rail is the way to go. MP's need reminding of this and held to account accordingly.
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