Despite welcoming recent initiatives from the UK government to improve surface link access to railway stations, far more could be done, says a transport watchdog.
Transport 2000 is calling for bus timetables to be coordinated more efficiently with those of rail, while cycle routes and footpaths should also be upgraded to encourage passengers to choose trains, notes the body in its report, ”Weakest Link,” that surveys the best and worse stations in England and Wales.
While conceding that the government ”has made steps in the right direction, with station ”Access for All” funding and a commitment in the Rail White Paper to introduce Station Travel Plans and a task force to improve cycle provisions at stations,” Transport 2000 wants more.
Spokeswoman, Tara Melton, said: ”Rail passengers need real travel choices. All stations should have good bus links, decent footpaths and secure cycle parking and must be accessible to all. What our survey shows is that this clearly is not the case for many rural and urban stations, leaving many people with no choice but to drive to the station.”
The results of the survey overwhelmingly found that most respondents felt bus services to be inadequately coordinated with rail timetables, with one noting that buses had been cut by 50% during the last year to Sandal and Agbrigg in West Yorkshire, meaning that road traffic increased to Wakefield Station instead.
What is also interesting is that the prevalence of bike theft at railway stations is also deterring passengers from cycling, with a hefty 60% saying they would not feel their bikes would be safe, while 62% maintained there were not safe cycle routes to stations such as Kemble in Cirencester and Hitchin in Hertfordshire, for example.