|
|
| LIB
DEMS UNDER FIRE OVER TRAIN SUBSIDIES |
| Next
Story | Previous
Story | Back
to list |
10:40 - 16 January 2007
|
Bristol's ruling councillors
have been accused of hypocrisy over their stance
on the row about the city's suburban
railways.Labour party members blamed the city
council's decision to withdraw a subsidy for the
Severn Beach railway line as starting the rot
which threatens to damage the route's
existence.
Group leader Helen Holland said the Lib
Dem cabinet should be doing more to enhance the
service and promote rail use.
Dennis Brown,
executive member in charge of transport, said the
service was out of the council's hands and was the
responsibility of First Great Western.
He
is due to meet representatives of the transport
giant today to discuss the future of the suburban
lines. But he said the council was committed to
maintaining the lines for the amount of demand
which existed and pointed the finger at central
Government for investing too heavily in other
forms of transport.
Ms Holland said: "I
find it astonishing that the Lib Dem cabinet
councillor in charge of transport for Bristol, who
claims to be a member of the Friends of Suburban
Bristol Railways, does not see the damage he
caused last year by axing this subsidy.
"It
is exactly as we said, that the removal of the
city council subsidy to the Severn Beach Railway
line has started the rot which threatens to
seriously damage the use of this line for
commuters to Bristol city centre.
"We
warned that local authority contributions were
vital to this commuter service, but Councillor
Brown insisted that First Great Western could run
it with no subsidy.
"Other, more
enlightened councils have continued to subsidise
their suburban train services, even after the new
franchises were awarded, and some have even
increased their grants to the train
operator.
"Councillor Brown and his Lib Dem
colleagues are keen to blame everything on the
Government, but in fact they have the power to
improve this potential commuter line themselves.
It would keep cars off the road and could easily
be funded locally."
Mr Brown said: "It is
not a case of us reinstating the subsidy because
it was taken over as part of the First
franchise.
"A lot of the problems are to do
with central Government directing its attention to
bus transport rather than subsidy grants for what
is a much more expensive system, namely
rail.
"It's environmentally a very
desirable form of transport but it's difficult
because there are major sums involved.
"We
are committed to getting an effective service
which is not one which requires extreme
subsidy.
"How far we can enhance the
service needs to be carefully looked
at."
|
|
| |
.gif){kind=small}
Home
.gif){kind=spacer}
