South Western Railways Consultation

Letter sent to Jacob Rees-Mogg MP and Wera Hobhouse MP calling on south west MPs to protect public transport.

Dear Jacob Rees-Mogg MP and Wera Hobhouse MP
Please can I raise with you the present consultation on South Western Railways that is taking place and ending 19th September. Until today I was not aware of this consultation and I am very grateful to David Redgewell for alerting me to this issue.
It would appear that this consultation will effect the 5 trains running between Bristol Temple Meads and London Waterloo which regularly service stations at Keynsham, Oldfield Park, Bath Spa, Salisbury etc.  These services do not only service residents in the West of England getting to London but are vital services between local areas.
The DfT has recently released it’s Transport Decarbonisation Plan and clearly there is a great emphasis on people using public transport.  If these 5 trains are removed this will result in more people using private vehicles and it will impact those who do not drive, do not have access to a private vehicle or are unable to afford to buy and run a private vehicle.
Please can I ask that you contact the other MPs in the WECA region and North Somerset and ask them to speak to Grant Shapps MP and Baroness Vere about the impact this will have across the south west and the many communities who rely on these services? Please can you contact Andrew Ardley on this matter and ask for full details about these services?
It is also quite clear that the Covid numbers are rising and that local public health bodies are considering returning social distancing measures from November.  This again will result in less commuters, putting public transport in a challenging financial position.  Without the on going subsides from Government many services could be lost.  Please again can I urge you to speak to Grant Shapps MP and Baroness Vere about why it is important to keep these services in place as their removal in the medium and long term will again force many into the private vehicle which is at odds with the Government’s own Climate Emergency declaration.
I look forward to hearing from you both about how MPs in the South West are working together to protect public transport services for all residents.
Best wishes Joanna

Joanna Wright

Green Party Councillor for Lambridge

Bath and North East Somerset Council

Telephone: 07582 749865

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