Open Access
Something to say? This is your platform.
I read with considerable interest the letters on ‘Did columnists overstep the Brexit boundary?’ ( Open Access, RAIL 808), and the response from Nigel Harris. Thank goodness Nigel injected an element of perspective into the debate.
The rail industry is about politics. It gets its money from Westminster, Network Rail is funded accordingly, and the train operating companies are defined with an operating/contract specification by the Department for Transport. The word politics always conjures up mixed thoughts and emotions, and often offends common sense.
The South West has been starved of investment for years, and that may be because it was neutralised by politics (for example, the Lib Dems with a majority of MPs in the region).
They have gone now, but as chairman of the Salisbury-Exeter Line Rail Users’ Group (with the Blackmore Vale Line Community Rail Partnership) we concentrate on the stations from Crewkerne to Tisbury (the six stations after Salisbury).
Why, along with Railfuture, do we spend all our free time pushing and lobbying for improved rail services for our users? Because we have to get the politicians to understand the local position and ‘play the game’. Politics requires an understanding of the various ‘sides’ of an argument, and should have the long-term strategy in mind. Politicians look short term (five years, max) but the railway investment is long term (20 to 30-plus years).
I like dealing with Network Rail as a stakeholder, because I hope I understand how they work and their limitations. But that does not mean I like what I see. And yes, it does make my blood boil when investment goes elsewhere (for example - Scotland, the North or London), but that is the reality.
Our line runs with 30-year-old stock on a 3hr 20mins journey on a Class 159! Credit to South West Trains for coping technically so well, but long term it may need help to press for new stock. So the politics pushes a working relationship with SWT, an understanding of how it works, and help if it needs support. Part of this line is commuter-led (Salisbury to Waterloo and Salisbury to Exeter), with a mixture of local and long-distance users with interchanges at Salisbury and Yeovil. It’s all about politics.
Even the favoured Peninsula Rail Task Force (Devon/Cornwall and South West CRP) must have political problems because issues need to be thrashed out openly, and there will always be those who hold an opinion in the minority. But progress has to be made, and leadership is a vital ingredient. We wait to see how that will conclude, but they need political consensus as well, and a sign-up from Government.
So, RAIL does a great job in debating, because it covers and debates all issues that are relevant to the industry. For those of us who are not from the industry, RAIL and its contributors form a backbone of our information every two weeks.
Please, please keep the open debate going, covering all sides and the politics as well.