West Midlands MPs go fishing for rail improvements

5.03.53pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 21st Jun 2007

Lynne Jones, the Labour MP for Birmingham Selly Oak, Adrian Bailey, the Labour-Cooperative MP for West Bromwich West, and Lorely Burt, the Liberal Democrat MP for Solihull, today joined campaign group Transport 2000's [1] Sardine Man [2] and actress Jenny Agutter in calling on the Government to tackle rail overcrowding and improve and expand services for passengers through its upcoming 30-year rail strategy. With over a billion people taking train journeys every year, rail overcrowding has become the number 1 passenger concern. Government figures forecast a 30% growth in rail passenger miles by 2016 [3].

The Labour MPs agreed that rail investment was now well over twice the amount that was being spent in the last decade of the Tory government and reiterated Labour's commitment to reorganising the rail industry to improve performance, drive down costs and ultimately improve the service for passengers. They cited the order of 1,000 new carriages to tackle overcrowding, and the fact that 40% of carriages have been replaced since1997, as demonstrating how the party is making a better railway for passengers. The MPs also stated that they would be lobbying hard to make rail travel even better for their constituents.

Lorely Burt said: "The Government's failing transport policy is creating a prohibitively expensive railway. After a decade of New Labour, Britain's rail fares are the most expensive in Europe. Whilst the cost of motoring has fallen since 1997, rail fares have increased significantly. Tackling overcrowding by raising the cost of travelling is a perverse incentive, which will simply force even more people back into their cars."

Jenny Agutter, Transport 2000's patron, is encouraging other MPs to follow the lead of the above-mentioned West Midlands MPs. "Rail use by passengers and for freight is having a real renaissance and is at its highest level since the 1950s, and still rising. This is great news - but the rail network and number of services has not expanded to keep up with demand. The Government will be issuing a rail strategy this summer which must place growing the railways at its heart."