Archived press release

SRA Funding Cuts Cause Councils to Lose Faith in Rail

26 August 2003

Budget cuts at the SRA [1] have left local authorities reluctant to put money and resources into rail improvement schemes in the future, new research from Friends of the Earth revealed today.

More than 40 per cent of local councils replying to Friends of the Earth's survey [2] said that they were less likely to get involved in the SRA's Rail Passenger Partnership (RPP) scheme in future.

The RPP scheme is a vital funding source for improvements to the rail network, providing partnership funding for work with local councils and train operating companies [3]. Successful projects include:-

the re-introduction of services between Cambridge and Norwich
the provision of cycle parking facilities at all rail stations in Kent.

Proposed rail improvement schemes [4] that have suffered as a result of the SRA's cuts include:

two new stations in the suburbs of York which would have helped cut road traffic in the city
capacity improvements at Stratford (East London) that would have eased congestion

Commenting on the results of the survey, Friends of the Earth rail campaigner Richard Dyer said:-

"After service cuts earlier in the year and recent speed restrictions due to the wrong kind of sunshine, this is yet another blow for rail passengers. RPP provides vital funding for important rail improvements. These cuts risk damaging local council co-operation for good. If Alistair Darling can afford £billions for environmentally damaging new roads, there's no reason why he can't reverse his budget cuts and re-instate the funding for this scheme immediately."

For further information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Discuss "SRA Funding Cuts Cause Councils to Lose Faith in Rail" in our forum

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust

Go to our press releases area for our current press releases.

Archived press release

SRA Funding Cuts Cause Councils to Lose Faith in Rail

Bookmark with: