Don't slam the coffin-lid on the future of Bristol rail!

.........It all makes sense. The city is gridlocked in traffic, we face a potential congestion charge that will hit the poorest hardest, just when fuel prices are rising and families are struggling to pay the bills. Everyone is looking for a long-term solution to the ever increasing traffic, and Bristol's reliance on the car.

So Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways are mounting a campaign, which I have been supporting, to reopen the existing and derelict Henbury station, as part of a projected Portishead and Henbury loop passenger/ freight line.

So it was with amazement and dismay that we discovered that far from resurrecting disused stations as part of a plan to get Bristol and Britain greener and moving again, the Government has sold-off Henbury station, as part of sell-offs of stations across the country. This is in effect slamming the coffin-lid on the future of local rail infrastructure. It is tragically short sighted, and little short of madness.

However, the battle is not over yet. I, and members of FOSBR and local campaigners will contest the grounds of the sale of Henbury station in a bid to keep hope alive for a rail system for the area. Particularly since in the same breath, the Government is planning two and a half thousand houses in the area just north of Henbury. You would think that re-opening Henbury station would actually be a priority, given the huge extra burden on the roads that this development would entail. That's why we'll fight so hard against the grounds of the sale, and for the resurrection of a local rail infrastructure Bristol can be proud of.

There are two things you can do to help!
1. Get in touch with FOSBR ( severnbeach@hotmail.co.uk or call 0117 9428637) to see how you can sign one of their postcard campaign cards

2. Come to the rally on 21st November, at Wilder House, Wilder Street, Bristol BS2 8P where FOSBR and local campaigners will be making their voice heard and lobbying James White, the Group Leader of Transport Policy at the West of England Partnership.

Come and speak out for a long-term vision for Bristol Transport.