I have recently been on the train to Yeovil from London and must admit what I thought was a 4 car train normally has now become a 3 car train. I put it down to the increased level of service that South West Trains had put in place between London and Exeter – but now I am not so sure.

I am making further investigations.

BBC NEWS | England | Train cuts see 100 carriages axed

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It has been announced that the decision to try and close South West Train ticket offices has been defeated. The Department for Transport were taking the final decision and had received objections from passenger groups and statutory bodies such as London Travelwatch (on which I sit) and Passenger Focus.

The bad news is that it appears the Labour Minister has stopped only 53 of the in excess of 100 closures, and it may well still threaten stations such as Crewkerne where I was campaigning with local residents. I am waiting a definitive list as we speak.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7826472.stm

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Once again the commuter faces rising rail fares.

It is all too easy to blame the rail companies for these increases for they merely work to a formula set by Government when it gives the franchises out. So, in many instances the Government will allow rail fares to increase only by 1% over the rate of inflation. Unfortunately the date for monitoring the rate of inflation was some time during the Summer of 2008 when inflation was peaking.

But the Government has also made it clear that it wants to spend less many – a lot less money – on rail subsidies. This means that is gradually withdrawing its support and replacing it with higher train fares. As ever, the Government is using this another stealth tax and it is the passenger who pays.

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This is a very interesting article over on Conservative Home about the policy of removing traffic calming humps from roads. Barnet Council, a London Borough, took the decision to remove humps because of their impact on the environment and the fact there was emerging evidence that they were contributing to deaths and injuries rather than helping reduce them.

Well, the evidence is in. They have removed them, the emergency services are happy and their death rate had declined faster than other Borough's. Even Ken Livingstone, who tried to persecute them has now agreed that humps make no impact on road deaths.

Perhaps now other Borough's should be brave enough to try it.

ConservativeHome's Local Government Blog: Don't get the hump

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Well, what a surprise. The Chief Executive of British Airway's has decided to attack the Conservatives for their policy of not wanting a third runway at Heathrow and instead opting for a hgh speed rail link (something we have only one of in the UK).

Is this surprising because I am afraid that Willie Walsh has only one concern in his mind - ensuring that he can fly as many planes as he can to as many destinations as he can. Personally I do my best to avoid BA as they are a company whose previosuly high standards have dropped enormously and they, more than any other, have worked hard to ensure there is much confusion as possible on airline pricing by their exploitation of fuel surcharges. There is no such thing as a fuel surcharge, it is part of the cost of the ticket. The fact that his company was found guilty of price fixing over the surcharge, as well as BA's disatrous handling of their trasnefr to the new terminal 5, should have seen the resignation of Mr. Walsh.

I think the party is right to stop the expansion of Heathrow and maybe the next step, once the rail link is built, will be to end all internal flights into Heathrow. Maybe by then we might have some ideas about the possibility of having a new airport in the Thames estuary.

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Firstly, there are always rumours of a cabinet reshuffle but more importantly what was a person who professes to want to spend more time with her children, doing up at 3.30 in the morning issuing press statements.

It seems to me that Ruth Kelly's resignation is indicative of the quickening pace at which this Government is falling apart. It seems almost impossible to find any senior Labour politician to give a straight answer. The latest in this position was Geoff Hoon who on Newsnight last night seemed incapable of answering the question put by the Paxoman.

Getting to the truth of all this is going to be tough for the press.

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I came across this article which will be of interest to all those who use South West Trains from London to Exeter.

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South West Trains have recently announced proposals to reduce the opening hours of some 114 stations across their area.

In the past few days I have been out with residents at the Crewkerne station to try and help them fight this reduction in service. I have also been in conversation with the Transport Salaried Staff Association (TSSA) the Union responsible in this area.

The train companies argument is that a new generation of ticket vending machines will make the requirement for longer opening hours redundant. I understand their perspective, but like the Post Offices, they, and Government, need to understand that the benefits of ticket offices being open spread much further than the mere financial. The fact is Stations such as Crewkerne and Yeovil are some distance out of the towns they serve and in fairly remote areas. One of the key issues for people who use public transport is the feeling of security that a good transit system should provide. The idea that there could be more occasions where passengers are stuck on remote platforms without the presence of rail staff is something that should be resisted.

Interestingly, an argument that has not been deployed, but which I am nevertheless sure is a contributory factor, is the requirement by Government to reduce subsidies. The only way that SWT can do this is to either increase fares or reduce costs. As fares are set by the Government they only have one alternative left. I fear that this is a cut that lies at the doors of Whitehall and I will be doing all I can to change their minds about this damaging proposal.

South West Trains Press release

One of the responsibilities of any
local authority is to ensure that they are correctly maintaining the
infrastructure of the area they serve.

With this in mind I would be grateful
if you could confirm for me the details relating to contracts the
local authority has with companies who carry out gully, storm drain,
culvert and stream cleaning across the Council area. Specifically it
would be good to know that the authority is monitoring, on a monthly
basis, the cleansing routines and is ensuring the work is being
carried out correctly.

Whilst I do not wish to create too much
work for you and your team it would be very good to see a list of the
relevant infrastructure in the Crewkerne and Yeovil area, and some
kind of record of recent cleansing activity. I know this would go a
long way to reassuring the residents I have heard from that the
local authority is doing all it can to ensure that this apparently
unique situation of flash flooding will not occur again in the
future.

It might also be useful for us to meet
some time in the future to discuss issues surrounding this and other
local matters.