Rail reopenings, coming down the line...

Good afternoon Supporter

Last month we welcomed the Government's announcement of a £500 million fund to explore reopening former rail lines: something we have long campaigned for. We know, of course, that reopening a disused rail line can transform an area, boosting the local economy, creating better places to live and reducing carbon emissions.

We hope that more funding will follow, especially in the light of our recent findings about small towns. We looked at small towns in the south west and north east of England and found that 56 per cent are 'transport deserts', or at risk of becoming one.

Nearly a quarter of the country's population lives in small towns, too many of which have inadequate public transport. In some cases, towns which lost their railway stations in the Beeching cuts are now losing the bus services that were brought in to replace them.

Small towns have been sidelined for too long: the Government must act to reconnect these transport deserts.

Big boost for buses!

A significant win for us this week: the Government has announced £5bn to improve bus services and cycling in England.

This extra investment will be spent over five years on many of the improvements that we've been campaigning for. The Government has said it will fund:

• Higher frequency services, including in the evenings and at weekends
• More affordable, simpler bus fares
• Thousands of zero emission buses to help tackle climate change and clean up polluted air
• Support for local authorities to restore services that have been lost
• Bus priority schemes to help buses that are often delayed by traffic

With the help of our supporters, Campaign for Better Transport has led calls for these improvements, including in our Future of the bus report which we presented to the Government last year. 

This very significant investment is great news for communities up and down the country and the millions of people who rely on buses. We'll be working further on how it will be allocated as a National Bus Strategy is developed in the coming months.

You'll remember that our Christmas appeal asked for your support to help us improve bus services, and we're delighted that our work is having an impact, but of course we won't stop now. To support our campaigns, please do consider making a donation today

Thank you for helping us secure this big boost for buses!

Until next time

Darren

Darren Shirley
Chief Executive, Campaign for Better Transport