Train not Plane

The last time I went to the South of France with my husband to visit a friend we travelled by Easyjet with car journeys to and from airports.

Flying is not my favourite means of transport for a number of reasons, not least its environmental impact, but time was short and it was judged the best option at the time of booking. As it turned out the time option was incorrectly judged. Another friend took the train and arrived before we did.

We are about to revisit our friend and have this time researched the options and decided to take the train. The choice was not straight forward. It is very difficult to make direct comparisons for the whole journey door to door. However, by taking the train we are able to get much closer by train to our friend's home thus eliminating the need for the lengthy car journey which flying would entail.

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Although the actual fare on the train is greater than that by air we will eliminate the cost of parking at the airport or a taxi fare and the cost of a hire car in France. The overall journey time will be much the same and we won't have that horrid waiting around at airports. We will be able to relax, look out of the window at the passing countryside, read a book and enjoy a meal in an unhurried manner.

This piece starts to sound like an advertisement for rail travel '“ 'Let the train take the strain'. One of the reasons the train fare to the South of France is affordable is that train fares are much less per mile in France than here in the UK. Indeed the most expensive part of the journey will be getting from my home to St. Pancras.

Although I am pleased to see that the wonderful building of St. Pancras station has been restored, its replacement of Waterloo as the International Station and the building of Ebbsfleet has been at a cost to us here in this part of the South East. Despite an active campaign by Sharon Bowles the Liberal Democrat MEP the number of Eurostar trains stopping at Ashford has been substantially reduced. The new station at Ebbsfleet is, in comparison, not easily accessed from here.

Despite the cost of train travel this method of transport has seen increased demand. This Government has made steps towards improvement following the mess in which the Conservatives left the railway network. But it has not been enough and it has not been done quickly enough. There has been too much emphasis on road building and insufficient investment in railways. And it is investment that is needed. Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes and shadow Transport Secretary asks why when the Government spends money on roads they call it investment but when it comes to railways it is subsidy.

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In a debate in the Lords on 20th Nov, Lord Bradshaw the Liberal Democrat Transport Spokesman in the Lords contributed greatly to the debate on the future of the Railways. He argued that as a result of high oil prices and concerns over transport's impact on the environment, a modern electrified railway with adequate rolling stock was an urgent necessity.

I agree with him wholeheartedly. Here in the South East our roads are congested putting a block not only on freedom of movement but also to efficient business development. The South East Plan acknowledges that without better infrastructure, including transport, more homes cannot be built.

Are the residents of Bexhill and Battle aware that the proposed Hastings to Bexhill link road is to be built over the track bed of one of the rail links dismantled as a result of the Beeching Report? Is this not short sighted? It should perhaps be remembered that behind the Beeching report was a Transport Minister who was openly associated with road construction and the development of the Motorway network.

Further across our County there has been a campaign for some time for the reinstatement of the Uckfield to Lewes rail line. This week I was informed that there is a petition on the Downing Street website in support of this reinstatement together with that of the Heathfield to Eridge section of the Cuckoo Line. You have until 4th December to add your signature to the petition athttp://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Cuckoo/

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Heathfield, which comes in to the Bexhill and Battle constituency at the next General Election, developed around the railway station there. Thanks again to Beeching the Residents of Heathfield have no railway service. Despite the town's growth in recent years they have the benefit of a minimal bus service and are therefore reliant on the car for transport.

In the debate mentioned above Lord Bradshaw also took the Government to task over its dependency on armies of consultants, calling for the whole of the railway to be taken back into public ownership. Does the Government's recent undertaking of Banking Business demonstrate the start of steps in that direction?