Better Transport

19 May: Today I spoke at the launch of a more frequent service on the Severn Beach line in Bristol.

I was involved in the Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways Half Hour Train Campaign which led to Bristol City Council agreeing to fund an extra train in March 2007. The agreement with First Great Western has now been finalised, and the extra train has arrived! A new Sunday service started yesterday, and the new 40-minute service started today. At the launch passengers, politicians from all parties and trade unionists joined together to celebrate at Clifton Down station.

Bristol's local rail network is an underused asset. The fact that the Council has invested in the network should send a strong signal to the Department for Transport that this area is serious about rail.

The arguments for investing in local rail in Bristol also apply nationally: the cost of congestion to businesses; the fact that many people are struggling to get around on inadequate public transport; the need to tackle carbon emissions from transport.

Passengers, led by FOSBR, said that they needed a better train service, and they got it. What a victory for people power! Let's hope it's just the start of the journey.