It was straight off the train to go door knocking in Preston Park today. The issue of environmentally friendly transport was raised with me.

I believe rail and bus transport need to be promoted. The Labour Government has invested record amounts of money in the railway. Also a Bill currently before Parliament will make it easier for local authorities to regulate bus services should this provide opportunities to improve services within their areas, but I believe more must be done, particularly in respect of rail.

I previously I worked for the rail union, TSSA, during which time I campaigned for public ownership of the railway. Our campaigning, alongside the other railway trade unions, contributed to the ending of the private sector company Railtrack. As an alternative to a third runway I would like to see new high speed lines linking the capital to major cities in England, Scotland and Wales. This will require very substantial investment but the new high speed Eurostar line has helped to reduce the number of people flying to Paris. Likewise the modernised West Coast Main Line is also now successfully challenging low cost airlines with travel to North-West England, despite its high profile engineering problems!

I have been a trustee of Transport 2000 (now the Campaign for Better Transport), who promote public transport, and I also set up Freight on Rail, the railway industry group dedicated to transferring freight from road to rail and sea. If elected I will be an experienced advocate in favour integrated and environmentally sustainable publicly owned transport.

Tags: transport

Posted on July 30, 2008 in Environmental and Green Issues.