South West is worst in the country for congestion and high rail fares
The influential and Labour dominated Parliamentary South West Regional Committee has issued a report into transport in the South West. It concludes that no new money should be spent on the A303 through Somerset but billions of pounds should be pumped in to the electrification of the London to Swansea train line.
Kevin Davis said, “I am a great advocate of improving the train infrastructure, but this committee seems to be arguing that it is either trains or the A303 and I do not believe that is the choice? We should be working for both as achieving one does not relieve the other. It is also relevant to note that the only MPs on this committee were Labour MP's and not one of them comes from Somerset or Cornwall.”
The committee has 5 members who wrote this report. One member comes from Plymouth but none of the others have seats in Somerset, Devon or Cornwall – three of them came from Bristol and one from Stroud.
Kevin Davis continued:
“I agree with some aspects of the report, for example the South West is known for being the worst in the country when it comes to congestion and high rail fares. I also agree that we need to do more research on the economic benefits to be gained from upgrading the A303. But this issue is not just about economics but a simple matter that the A303 is quickly earning a reputation as the road of death. The level of traffic on the A303 far surpasses some stretches of motorway and yet the levels of death and serious injury appears to be rising all the time. We need to see action for the benefit of the people of Somerset, not Parliamentary reports that seek to do more for Labour MPs in marginal seats!”
1 March 2010
ENDS
Note to editors:
The South West Regional Committee is a Parliamentary committee set up to examine issues that affect the South West Region.
The members of the committee are:
Alison Seabeck MP (Labour, Plymouth Devonport) (Chairman)
Mr David Drew MP (Labour, Stroud)
Roger Berry MP (Labour, Kingswood)
Kerry McCarthy MP (Labour, Bristol East)
Dr Doug Naysmith MP (Labour, Bristol North West)
Its recent report on Transport in the South West can be seen here:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmswest/146/14602.htm
This has been reported to BBC Somerset here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/somerset/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8537000/8537107.stm
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