SIR: 'Don't choke Britain' I am told, I have been trying not to since 1989. 1 operate special excursion trains from local town and village stations in Pennine Lancashire and Yorkshire and am one of the few charter train operators left in the North. Why? Because I am choked with escalating hire costs and red tape. While new roads are built to cater for peak demand to our towns, cities and seaside resorts, rail infrastructure is ripped out, so large excursion trains can no longer operate.
Since rail privatisation hire costs have risen by over 50 per cent and a small number of charter train operators have struggled on with no grant aid while money has been pumped into highway schemes. What I want to see is some real commitments from the decision makers not empty slogans and photo calls. My commitment to not 'choking' Britain for the last nine years is giving 30,000 people the chance of a day out by train from the convenience of the local rail station.
Nick Harvey
Proprietor
Green Express Railtours
Byram Arcade
Westgate, Huddersfield
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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