Help make the case for a railway line to Haverhill

The local authorities’ plan to drive a £132 million bus-only road through the countryside to the south of Queen Edith’s has been roundly condemned by transport groups, MPs, village councils and environmental organisations. It’s an outdated idea which aims to take cars off the roads by forcing people to get in cars and drive to a car park. One of our local councillors described its shortcomings in detail here last year.

However, an advantage of our county’s byzantine structure of overlapping administrations is that one organisation always seems to be running public consultations on projects another organisation thought it had got away with. In this case, there’s still a consultation where we can object to this white elephant, and I encourage you to do so.

Here’s how. We need as many people as possible to submit comments into the Combined Authority’s Local Transport & Connectivity Plan, in support of an alternative to the bus road – namely the reinstatement of the Cambridge to Haverhill rail line. The instructions come from a document originating with Railfuture East Anglia.

• Firstly, go to the consultation here: https://yourltcp.co.uk/
• Click on “Have Your Say”
• Complete questions 1 to 5 if you wish. There’s a ‘not sure’ answer in each case if you have no opinion. Click ‘Next’.
• Do the same for questions 6, 7, 8/8a and 8b (i.e. answer them if you wish, but there’s a ‘not sure’ answer if you have no opinion). Click ‘Next’ each time.
• When I came to 8c, I clicked “Strongly disagree”. Then, in the comments box, I wrote that a railway to Haverhill should be reopened, replacing the busway serving a car park. Write whatever you think (see notes below). Click ‘Next’.
• As above complete questions 8d, 8e and 9 (i.e. answer them if you wish, but there’s a ‘not sure’ answer if you have no opinion). Click ‘Next’ each time.
• Finally, fill in the red required information about yourself and click ‘Submit’.

To help with 8c, you can use the following points as inspiration for your reply:

• The reopening of the railway from Haverhill with a through service to Cambridge run as part of the National Rail network would bring transformational benefits to places along the whole corridor.
• The scheme would link jobs, healthcare, leisure and housing.
• It would encourage people to make their whole journey by public transport rather than driving to the CSET Park and Ride.