Lib Dems Demand Level Crossing Action (Wokingham Liberal Democrats)

Wokingham Liberal Democrats <info@wokinghamlibdems.org.uk>

Lib Dems Demand Level Crossing Action

November 23, 2009 12:00 PM

Sometimes it's worth waiting for the train to pass

Wokingham Liberal Democrats are demanding that the Barkham Road level crossing be sorted out once and for all.

Currently barriers are closed for more than 20 minutes in every hour, causing traffic turmoil. If Airtrack, the proposed train service which would run through Wokingham to link Reading with Heathrow Airport, goes ahead, barrier closures would increase to more than half an hour in every hour throughout the day.

Cllr Prue Bray, leader of the Wokingham Liberal Democrats, attacked the Conservatives' objections to the Airtrack proposals as being completely inadequate at last week's council meeting.

Cllr Bray said, "Local Conservatives have failed to stand up for Wokingham once again. They have put forward shamefully weak objections to the Airtrack proposals which they are prepared to withdraw in the future. It doesn't seem to matter that these proposals have been overwhelmingly condemned by the public. Wokingham residents deserve a council which puts them first."

Cllr Bray also noted that she believed that the situation would deteriorate further if Network Rail goes ahead with its plans to connect Reading, via Wokingham, with the Channel Tunnel line, as revealed in last week's Wokingham Times.