Memorandum by Alan D Crowhurst (RR 04)
RURAL RAILWAYS
I refer to the forthcoming inquiry into rural
railways and am concerned that this may be a precursor to closures
of the kind that so decimated the system after Beeching.
During the following years my business took
me all over the country and, in many cases, to towns that had
lost their rail links such as those along the north Devon coast.
Whilst I could have hired a car on arrival in some towns this
would have been expensive and time consuming. Accordingly I used
a car for all of my journey, commencing in East Essex and then
on to wherever I had to go thus losing the railway not just the
local fare but the long distance fares and dining car income.
Being retired I very much prefer to use rail
services and would be a more frequent user of the Cotswold lines
if the services were more frequent and faster, the campaign to
restore double tracks being well known. Rural lines need regular
interval services with good connections and not necessarily the
most modern rolling stock.
There was a lot to be said for the policy of
cascading equipment down to such lines thus reducing costs of
equipment. There is also a strong case for local management of
such lines and recent proposals by some groups to do so deserve
support as local interest can provide a spur to development.
Bus substitution is no answer whether the buses
be conventional or guided although light rail equipment might
be satisfactory if its use does not preclude operations by heavy
rail. Although I am happy to use bus services in major cities
I would not consider their use on longer routes. Indeed recent
experiences with bus substitution on several journeys I have made
on the Chiltern Line and the Marches Line, although well organised,
were not at all enjoyable and I would defer travel rather than
willingly use such substituted services again or, more likely
use my car.
Recent proposals to use rail tracks for guided
bus services on the Cambridge-Huntingdon and Luton-Dunstable lines
will be unlikely to offer the development of passenger services
that would arise with the restoration of such lines to heavy or
light rail whilst adding to congestion at the city ends of such
journeys. they will do nothing to attract longer distance travellers.
I visit Histon from time to time and would use rail from Kidderminster
via Birmingham if the Huntingdon-Cambridge line were reopened
but I am not inclined to go by train to Cambridge and then travel
back by bus from wherever the bus service commences.
I would strongly urge the Committee to promote
the retention, restoration and development of rural rail services
and any ancillary development of the station property, etc. In
Italy most rural stations have a cafe/bar, toilets and other facilities,
why cannot such developments be encouraged here—it works
well, for example, at Crianlarich.
31 March 2004
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