New Diagram and update of progress

Just thought I'd give a sneak preview of our new and latest diagram. Welcome your support. A new joined up network of local rail links informs a capacity creation north-south railway from East Midlands - South Coast including Brighton, Portsmouth and Southampton 'not via London, Birmingham or Oxford-Reading per se'. 

Hot spots are all along the corridor:

a. Calvert - needs domestic lines and station

b. OOC - needs baying capacity as well as the direct link-up between Chiltern Main Line and Heathrow Southern Rail Link

c. Guildford-Horsham/Shoreham on-going

d. Willoughby-Rugby

e. Rugby-Magna Park-Lutterworth-Narborough area link up.

But what we need is to grow our teams and recruit reliable volunteers to work at each chunk. We can aspire and direct interest where appropriate there. 

Enjoy and any support is welcome to entertain.

Benefits are:

a. more capacity on/off the rails

b. mops up communities without rail access

c. London west side orbital

d. Banbury, Brackley and Aylesbury - Guildford arc

e. more freight by rail potentially

f. connectivities and gains - including regenerative and modal shift choice as well as sustainability platforms for a balance between development and impacts.

Our newsletter will be out in 2 weeks time, but meanwhile feel free to tap into our meetings.

https://ertarail.co.uk/events/

New councils means we are progressively updating our records. ERTA needs administrative and campaign helpers/supporters. Reliability is a crucial skill as well as competence in handling electronic record keeping, transparency and basic commitment to managing a portfolio. If at all interested or know others like for example retired or students - we welcome both ends of the age spectrum and all in between.

We have turned a corner:

a. East-West Rail is being done now

b. Growing appreciation of what local rail can offer

c. diverse and plauralised appreciation of route protections

d. Government one agent, farming out elsewhere and third party delivery vehicles another - what gives, what takes, we just want the rail delivery regardless in a timely manner. 

Thank you. All offers via richard.erta@gmail.com For most people, joining and then offering is the normal proceedure.

ERTA Newsletter May-June 2021 and Volunteer Opportunities

Despite the gloom around Covid, we had a positive meeting on Zoom yesterday about rail links to and from Northampton. Positive action and moving things forwards on a number of fronts courts Government tiers of all kinds to play ball and reciprocate and ideally give more leadership, direction and targeted policy and resources to nurture modal shift through choice for the benefit of people, communities and the environment. Clear choices exist, it is either more roads with time-wasted congestion and parking conflicts or re-railing and enabling rail to do more beit freight and/or passenger as well. ERTA is playing a key role in seeking to bring people of all walks together and find common ground, work together and nurture those choices we all may wish for on and off the rails. Development and impacts should be a concern to us all and striving to get balances right beyond mere ascetical considerations, should be a top priority. We can't just go on building platforms dependent on the car for everything, we must nurture choice to such lifestyles and make amenities accessible with walking, cycling, bus and rail incentives more.

I attach our newsletter showing what we are doing and have done as well as our summer programme of zoom meetings. Physical meetings may commence with our stall at St Paul's on 5th June in Bedford and unroll as unlock may permit. See: https://www.antiques-atlas.com/antique_fair/bedfordshires_antiques_collectors_fair_st_pauls/af2055 and https://ertarail.co.uk/events/ and register to join our zoom meetings.

On a note about being Bedford-centric, we are reliant on people elsewhere to help make things happen and send us news and captions/photos for us to use on social media and newsletter potential. We can only input what others help to inform, campaigning is about making news, not just passively following it! But with East-West Rail debates - remember in 1986 when we met at Centre Com Milton Keynes and 1987 when we met at The Bell Sandy, no-one was organising rail reopening of an Oxford-Cambridge railway beyond talk individually. Then 1995 the East West Consortium was formed after years of us pleading Councils and Government to protect routes and keep options open. 1997 the Bedford-Sandy part was fully worked up and evaluated and positive to go ahead, but stalled. Now we have a new route which is not as we may wish and indeed have suggested an alternative using the old route can be identified which fits in with a Tempsford orientation rather than Sandy which is screened off with development now. Cambridge likewise, pleaded with Councils not to build Trumpington Meadows Estate across the old railway route, but they have anyway. So we are left with a derivative set of options and dynamics and sadly, the pattern repeats elsewhere too. We want to rebuild a Westminster Team to pursue a national rail route protection legal obligation with incentives to reopen and protect and sanctions if development is allowed to blight strategic corridors. 

For the Brackmills Brochure, Newsletter or Rail Reopenings pdf docs please request email via richard.erta@gmail.com. Hard copies also available. 

Yours sincerely,

Richard Pill

ERTA Chairman