Trains for everyone

Trains in rural areas are a lifeline to those who do not have a car. The government's rural white paper 'Our countryside: the future - a fair deal for rural England', 2001, notes the benefits of rail access to rural communities by reducing traffic on local roads, making businesses more competitive, and in many cases offering a tourist attraction.

Currently 30% of households - some 13 million people - do not own a car. Women are often second in the pecking order for use of a shared car and more than 40% of women don't have a driving licence. The proportion of the population reliant on public transport is set to go up as the UK population ages.

The public supports rail use: a 1998 Mori poll found that 76% of the public would be happy to see restrictions on car use if there was a better integrated transport system and 71% of the public would support road pricing if the money were spent on improving local rail and bus services. Research for transport 2000 found that 9 out of 10 people thought that public transport was an important or extremely important part of community life.