24th November 2005 plus additional information 30th December 2005

 
The Gloucester Green Party leafletted rail travelers at Gloucester Station about the proposed new rail station - Gloucestershire Parkway - and found massive opposition to the plan from regular rail users. Greens have expressed deep concern that almost everybody they spoke to had not heard of the plans.

Katy Nixon, Press Officer for the Gloucester Green party said, “We got copies of the County transport plan and as the council could only give us a few we made photocopies. When we handed them out to Saturday travellers at Gloucester station we were astounded by how few people had heard of the plans to move the Cheltenham and Gloucester services to Elmbridge Court near Churchdown. This is very worrying as it will have huge implications."


“Most of the people we spoke to were against the plans.”

Katy went on to explain how the plans could easily put an end to commuting by train to places like Stonehouse and Bristol by adding 100 extra minutes of travel time to a commuter’s day.  She said: “When you realise that they plan to link the existing hub of bus services to the Parkway with another bus service it is easy to see how this will happen.  You have to allow extra time for your current bus being late or early and the connecting bus service getting snarled up in traffic.  The route is also a round about one via the hospital.  The whole thing becomes untenable and people will decide to invest in cars to get them from A to B instead.  Suddenly paying £3000 a year to run a car and driving down a busy motorway will seem attractive to those who once preferred to bus and train it.”

Katy Nixon, who contributed to the Gloucestershire Green party very critical response to the Local Transport Plan last week (i), said: "The Gloucester to Bristol service has deteriorated in quality lately because of the decision not to run cross country services through the Gloucester station. This is causing misery for commuters in Gloucester, but by 2010 when the Parkway is due to open it is likely that Cheltenham commuters will face the same problems."

Katy Nixon concluded: "The new station scheme is tied up with the park and ride schemes that are due to be built around Elmbridge Park. Rather than deal with the problem of congestion by providing an alternative to the car, this County-backed scheme simply moves traffic from the city centre and increases it elsewhere. More cars mean increased global warming and climate change. We urgently need to provide decent alternatives - greener solutions - in order that people can more readily leave their cars at home and we reduce congestion and pollution. If European cities can do it why can't we?"

Additional information - 30th December 2005: Darling speaks out

Philip Booth, a Gloucestershire Green party spokesperson said: "Jonathon Porritt, the chair of the Sustainable Development Commission, has said that 'new railway stations must be accessible by foot and bike and should not encourage unnecessary car use'. Any diversion of services away from existing town stations such as Cheltenham Spa to new stations outside towns would be harmful to our health and our environment. Greens therefore welcome Transport Secretary Alistair Darling saying it would be "unsatisfactory" if a planned new out-of-town railway station near Gloucester took passengers or services away from Cheltenham. And he said it would be one of the things his department would look at in considering a funding application by the county council for the £25 million Gloucester Parkway scheme at Elmbridge Court. He acknowledged that the planned new station would serve "broadly the same market" as the one at Cheltenham."

Notes:

(i) For Gloucestershire Green party's response to the Local Transport Plan see: www.glosgreenparty.org.uk