"Chief slams plan to cut rail stops" Halesowen News 4 August 2016

Quite unashamedly, all our transport chiefs are protesting so furiously at cuts to rail stops when they have, themselves, in 50 years destroyed about 80 km of urban rail lines in their area.

Not believing in running trains on rail lines, they have strongly believed in turning them into roads and preferred running homes, hotels, trading estates and every other kind of building.

Even more astonishingly, they continue to prohibit passenger trains and stations from returning to double track rail lines in the West Midlands - 39km in Brum, 20km in the Black Country out of the 65km that is unused on the 120km Worcester to Derby Main Line. Then, there is the 14km rail line from Walsall to Wolverhampton - unused, of course.

The 65km from Stourbridge to Burton, through the heart of the densely populated and congested Black Country, is the most egregious example. All because our minders and betters in charge, perversely, refuse to write the business case for the UK's most important, unused, easily reinstated main line railway.

The press has highlighted, this month, that 20 per cent of commuters have to stand on West Midland trains. Simply because transport bosses don't believe in trains (only super expensive, slow trams, of course).

Tim Weller

Hunnington Crescent

Halesowen