(St Albans)
(LD):...Then there is the disruption to rail commuters. Thousands
of St Albans residents are Thameslink commuters. We have faced years
of disruption, most acutely in 2018 when the botched introduction
of a new rail timetable caused misery for thousands of daily
commuters for months. Residents are rightly concerned about the
capacity and the ability of the midland main line to accommodate
the proposed long and heavy freightliner trains. How will they do
that without adversely affecting the now mostly reliable operation
of the passenger timetables of both Thameslink and East Midlands Trains
services?
...For 12 years, local residents, local campaign group
STRiFE—Stop the Rail Freight Exchange—the St Albans Civic
Society, Hertfordshire MPs of different political persuasions and
campaigners of all political parties and none have fought to stop
this monstrosity. That is even without thousands of Thameslink and East Midlands commuters getting
up in arms.
A Government-imposed strategic rail freight interchange in Park
Street would occupy 490 football pitches of green belt. As a
result, this land cannot be protected as green belt, cannot be
used for housing and is unlikely to even work as a railway
interchange, leaving it to just become a massive lorry park. A
rail freight interchange would bring untold disruption to our
village life and road and rail networks. It would require massive
engineering in Thameslink tunnels to the south, permanently
disrupt commuter lines and clog village roads with parked up
lorries. Current Government policy holds this piece of land
hostage. I am calling on the Government to stop the rail freight
and let local people decide how they want to use their
land...
To read the whole debate, CLICK
HERE
