‘Invest in the railways’

Jan 24 2008 by Barrie Mills, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

COUNCILLORS have demanded more money for the railways.

Colne Valley Lib Dem, Clr Nicola Turner, said: “Trains are full to bursting and the ticket pricing system is hard to understand. If we’re serious about getting more people to use the rail links to Leeds and Sheffield then we must make it easier for them.

“We need a plan, not just for Kirklees, but for the North of England.”

Clr Peter McBride called for the whole railway system to be taken back into public ownership.

The Dalton Labour man said: “We need to re-nationalise the whole system – that’s certainly what the public thinks.

“But it’s not about one government investing in the transport system. If we want to have a rail network as good as the French then the next 10 governments have to invest.”

Fifty-five councillors supported a Lib Dem motion calling for investment, with eight abstaining.