The Campaign Against New Beeching Report is headed by a fellow rail campaigner Lee Fletcher. He has been and continues to be one of the more active campaigners whose inspired project to propose an alternative plan for a railway in south west England, Gateway to the Future, I commented upon recently. This campaign, which is closely linked to Save the Train, More Train Less Strain and other campaigns (not just based in the south west) are potent symbols of the sea-change in attitude we will see towards public transport, particularly the railways.
There is no doubt that the motor lobby in this country enjoys the ears of the powers that be far more than people like us, often thought of in the same way as a special-interest group (who ought to just stop complaining and pay for it all themselves) rather than people who can see that vastly improved railways could solve many of the problems the country as a whole suffers due to car-abuse. Aren’t rail users also tax-payers?
It is worth noting that I am not a rail campaigner because I am anti-car (I am not). I am simply appalled by the way so many people, mostly very intelligent, who abuse their privilege to drive, then complain about traffic and the costs of petrol and road pricing but do not a) realise they are part of the problem, or b) consider what alternatives might exist or, c) if the alternatives are unpalatable, try and do something about it like lending support to campaigns such as CANBER and starting their own. The latter can be done with a simple letter to your MP and local councillors expressing your disappointment at public transport provision in your area. Imagine the changes we could make if every MP and councillor in the country was lobbied likewise.