Local councillors in Walsall are unveiling a new poster campaign in a bid to save the town’s rail link with Wolverhampton.

Cllr Gary Clarke, chairman of the West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority, which represents the interests of passengers, will be joined by Walsall council leader Councillor Tom Ansell and cabinet member for environment Councillor Marco Longhi to help launch a Centro advertising campaign among High Street shoppers on Friday.

A Government policy wants to replace the poorly-used rail service with buses, but local councillors argue that the line should not face the axe until a true level of demand can be measured.  They say passengers have shunned the service because it has been unreliable in the past and has not been properly promoted.

“We want the Government to be investing in the West Midlands rail network, not making cuts because it has been starved of investment in the past,” says Cllr Clarke.  “The trains will keep running at least into next year.  If more people use the Walsall to Wolverhampton line in the meantime that will help make the case for keeping it open.”

Now Centro-PTA is paying for posters, leaflets and newspaper ads to encourage more people to use the threatened rail service.  The campaign makes the point that the 13-minute train journey to Wolverhampton is far quicker and cheaper than travelling by bus.

Cllr Clarke says if local people can show there is a demand for the service, he would like to see the frequency doubled to trains every half hour.

“Across the West Midlands, we want to be increasing local services,” he adds.

The campaign has been supported by Walsall Council transport leaders, who are calling on Government rail chiefs to invest in reliable and more frequent services on the Walsall-Wolverhampton line.

“Proposals to axe this service and replace it with buses are utter madness – we should be investing in rail services, such as this, to get congestion off our roads,” says Cllr Marco Longhi.

He says that closing the rail link is completely at odds with national policy to get people out of their cars and onto public transport.

“Walsall Council is committed to making it easier for people to get around and we will fight for the service to Wolverhampton to remain open and receive extra investment. If the service were made more reliable and frequent, we’d soon see passenger numbers rising,” adds Walsall Council Leader Cllr Tom Ansell.

Link: Walsall Council website