IT is fundamental logic that efforts to get more people to give up their cars and use public transport will only succeed if services are more attractive -- affordable, efficient and frequent.
Yet, when it comes to rail services in East Lancashire the government is doing the reverse --running them down and making cuts.
In a double blow, the Clitheroe-Bolton line becomes classed as a rural route and will be starved of cash for at least two years while investment is diverted from the already-slow trans-Pennine route through East Lancashire and journey times on it are extended.
This is the very opposite of what our local authorities were seeking and what rail users want. They were bidding for funding to double services on the Clitheroe-Bolton route and improve stations. Instead, the line will get nothing.
And improvements to the so-called Transpennine Express service which runs from Blackpool through East Lancashire at an average speed of just 41 mph have been ruled out as cash is targeted at 'city' routes between Manchester and Leeds.
The notion is that investment is going where the best returns are likely, but the pay-back for starving East Lancashire's rail services of cash for improvements can only mean worse services and worse returns. As for the strategic dream of reducing congestion by getting people to travel by rail instead car. This short-sighted move has shunted it into a siding for years to come.
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