No investment leaves passengers out in cold
OVER the decades Huddersfield and its districts have lost many large companies who employed thousands of local people. Due to these job losses, people have sought employment out of the immediate area.
Places such as Leeds, Manchester, Bradford and Wakefield have gained from our loss. However, this nomadic workforce has to suffer the daily grind of getting to their workplaces. Some use public transport, whilst others use their own transport.
The public transport users suffer their own unique daily problems, those being the very transport which they rely on to get to their workplace. Many use the trans-pennine rail network which, at best, has failed. The rail user pays a hefty annual ticket fee to use very old rolling stock which has too few carriages for the number of passengers – strange how a public bus has a standing limit yet the rail services has unlimited numbers standing.
The time is long overdue for both our train and bus networks to be modernised with a timeta- ble which suits the passenger. People rely on a public transport system to get them to a rendezvous point at a given time.
Yorkshire has suffered a lack of investment whilst the South, especially London, has creamed off the transport investment money and is still doing so.
We have HS2 (white elephant) which will play no part in local people’s lives. Billions of pounds wasted, probably at the expense of other areas but not London.
Why are we left out in the cold when it comes to investment? Millions of good Yorkshire folk pay their taxes, yet we see little in the way of investment in our infrastructure and employment opportunities. In Huddersfield, (Kirklees!) we are led by a Labour-elected council who have enticed no large manufac- turing companies to the area. They have, however, managed to crow about creating a plan for 31,000 new homes, thus increasing the network problem, along with associated pollution issues.
We need to change the balance of power in council chambers but how do we get people to see there is a future for all?
Would it hurt to try a different party leading our council?