CANBER - Campaign Against New Beeching Report

You're better off living in Scotland or Wales. At least you are if you like the idea of shiny new stations and reopened railway lines. Admittedly, for many of us, the number of schemes even there has been woefully lacking, but at least there has been a steady stream of re-openings, the latest of note being the Ebbw Vale line in the Cardiff valleys. Passenger numbers on this link alone have already exceeded expectation for two years time. Can you think of a re-opened station or line that hasn't been a great success?

What has England offered in this respect in the last ten years? Precious little I'm afraid, so the new station at Aylesbury Vale Parkway, complete with upgrading of a short section of freight railway, should be considered a breakthrough.

Aylesbury Vale Parkway is all ready to open in December. A total of around £12m is being spent providing a new station and upgrading a short stretch of little used freight railway north of Aylesbury. The station is mainly being built to serve new residents moving in to new housing estates at Berryfields and nearby Weedon Hill - though at the time of opening these large estates are only just starting to be built. They are massive estates with a combined total of nearly 4000 homes, the residents of which will be provided with a fully functional railway service from the day they move in.

It will also benefit residents who live in the surrounding villages north-east of Aylesbury and will have bus links and a 400-space car park. New signalling and track will enable the existing Marylebone-Aylesbury service to travel on to Aylesbury Vale Parkway in about 4 minutes. There will be 1 train an hour off-peak, and up to 3 trains an hour can be accommodated in the peak hours.

Opportunities like this should be happening all over the country. Hopefully this will act as a catalyst to similar schemes, such as Tavistock in the west country. You can read more about the Aylesbury Vale Parkway station and developments in the surrounding area by visiting http://www.aylesburyvaleadvantage.co.uk/index.cfm/ava/Projects.Home