Put rail travel back on track

4:13pm Friday 11th May 2007

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ONE of the worst things ever to happen to south Bucks was when the railway line between High Wycombe and Bourne End was scrapped.

It was ditched in 1970 and, in hindsight, this was just about the daftest move in the history of the area.

That's why I am glad to learn that the High Wycombe Society is stepping up its fight to have the line restored.

If the society has its way, a light railway with tram-like people carriers will operate on the 9km stretch.

The line would be the missing link between High Wycombe, Loudwater, Bourne End, Maidenhead and London's Paddington.

The society is pressing again for this after council planners approved a proposal for hundreds of homes on the old sewage worksite off Bassetsbury Lane, High Wycombe.

Most people agree that extra homes are needed to provide for the ever-growing population.

But, at the same time, there is simply no room on our roads for expansion.

Our councillors have fiddled about around the edges with the ridiculous London Road bus lane. The idea was laudable but it's never going to make enough impact because there are too few buses to encourage drivers to give up their cars.

And, anyway, bus travel is impractical for many people, especially if they want a ride in the evenings in a rural area.

Meanwhile, our civic leaders mess around with other bright ideas such as limiting parking spaces at new-build offices (such as ours). The aim is to make us car share or take the often-invisible public transport.

But it never really works. People would put up with almost anything, rather than give up their cars.

I don't blame them. Whenever my motor is off the road, I feel helpless. I don't mind walking or taking a bus or taxi, but you generally find yourself stranded around these parts without a car.

So, I hear you cry, why would a new, or newly-reinstated train line, make any difference?

Perhaps it wouldn't. Perhaps it's just another public transport initiative that is doomed to failure.

But I really do feel that the public is probably now green enough and desperate enough to accept a reliable, frequent public transport link, providing it's relatively cheap.

If the Bourne End line were to work, it would take masses of traffic off the road, unlike the puny bus lane. It would mean there would finally be a way to get to Maidenhead or Paddington without having to go to London Marylebone first.

It would give the people of Bourne End no excuse for not leaving their 4 by 4s at home when they go shopping at High Wycombe's new Eden centre.

It would be brilliant in all but one respect. It would mean possible disruption for the people living in homes next to the old tracks.

I can fully understand the fears of any resident who suddenly found a functioning train line at the end of the garden.

They would understandably worry about noise and house price devaluation.

I'm not expert enough to allay all these concerns. All I can say is I lived for 12 years quite happily with the Chiltern Line literally ten feet away from my bathroom window. The trains never bothered me, and I bet a light railway is a lot less intrusive.

Probably like most things, the Bourne End link is pie in the sky. It's unlikely to ever happen but you can't blame the High Wycombe Society for having a go.

If there's one thing that will make a huge difference to our transport system, it's this idea.

Wouldn't it be great if Chiltern Railways and our councils threw their weight behind the link and put train travel back on the right track in our county?