It was £27 cheaper to drive to Bourne End to take the train to Bristol (From Bucks Free Press)

It was £27 cheaper to drive to Bourne End to take the train to Bristol

10:40am Wednesday 1st February 2012 in Your Letters

WITH reference to the possible reinstatement of the High Wycombe/Bourne End rail Link (HBL), we have just learned that a High Wycombe citizen who recently wished to get to Bristol found it was £27 cheaper to drive to Bourne End to join the rail network, than to start at High Wycombe station and travel via Marylebone and Paddington.

It has been mentioned that the county council said the restoration was not financially viable.

That judgement was made by the council’s own in-house consultants. They based their assessment on the assumption that the only people who would use it would be some of the commuters living within 500m of the light rail stops. That view is not supported by the gentleman driving five miles to Bourne End to catch a train, and we have other examples contradicting the county council’s consultants.

Two weeks ago, the Government announced £600m had been granted for major transport schemes. Among the projects to be funded is one near Watford, where £76m has been awarded to Hertfordshire County Council for re-routing a former rail track and restoring it with light rail.

The £600m was shared among 21 local authorities but Bucks was not among them.

Elsa Woodward, High Wycombe Society Transport Group