Campaign for Better Transport slams call for rail cuts and more roads

Campaign for Better Transport slammed the call issued by the Drivers’ Alliance and the TaxPayers’ Alliance for cuts in rail spending and for more roads.

Stephen Joseph, the organisation’s executive director, said:
“Cutting railways back would be the worst possible way of helping motorists. Without railways, many of our cities would grind to a halt and there would be many more juggernauts. And all the evidence is that road building projects are incredibly expensive and lead to more traffic. This is a recipe for more congestion, casualties and pollution.”

Peter Roberts, Chief Executive at the Drivers’ Alliance, said:
“We desperately need to prioritise roads before rail if congestion is to be tackled. Adding road capacity is cost effective and provides genuine savings in journey times for the majority of individuals, goods and services. Spending vast sums of drivers’ taxes on extravagant rail projects will not address the immediate transport problems we have in the UK.”

Jennifer Dunn, Policy Analyst with the Drivers Alliance and the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Motorists are getting a really raw deal thanks to the Government’s misguided transport policy. Drivers suffer a double whammy – they pay huge amounts of tax, and only receive a disproportionately small share of transport spending. Continuing to neglect the road system and tax motorists to the hilt cannot be an option if we want to stand any chance of having a decent transport network”

Author: Lee Sibbald, October 22, 2009
Filed under: Campaign for Better Transport,Fleet news