I SHALL be voting no to the TIF proposals and it has nothing to do with greed.
I do not drive and so will never pay the congestion charge.
It might seem odd that a regular public transport user should choose to say no to the TIF money. Think again.
Throwing money at public transport will not automatically improve the transport system.
What is needed is more thinking and planning and this is only likely to happen when there is a genuine will to improve transport.
If the will were truly there, significant improvements could be made at relatively little cost.
At Wigan Wallgate station the electronic departure boards have been out of action for weeks and all too often the trains come in and out with no announcement.
When all the trains through Bolton were delayed by snow the employee on duty on platform four could give passengers no information because his computer was down!
Travellers in and out of Bolton do not need a multi million pound station, what we need is regular, reliable trains with enough empty seats on them.
If the Government really wanted to improve our public transport it would compel the companies to which it gave/sold the rail franchises to provide the service that passengers are paying for.
If it is not possible for the present train operators to do this and make the big profits they require, the railways should be taken back into public ownership.
If we need to get people out of their cars and on to public transport, we need to stop profiteers from running sub standard “services”.
David Crausby MP is absolutely right to condemn a congestion charge that would leave the low-paid struggling while leaving the affluent free to pollute with impunity.
Rachel Mann, Bolton
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