The following article was first published by Westminster Extra.
WESTMINSTER has teamed up with other local authorities in a bid to bring an end to diesel trains running out of Marylebone station.
Chiefs at City Hall in Victoria Street hope that the alliance with Oxfordshire and Birmingham City Council will lead to a breakthrough in a longrunning clean air campaign from Marylebone residents. Residents living near the station have been calling on government ministers and railway bosses to bring in cleaner hybrid models. The Department for Transport is days away from signing a new contract for the Chiltern rail franchise.
In a strongly-worded letter to the transport minister, the council alliance said:
“The collective public health of our residents is actively threatened by the same source of poor air quality – outdated and polluting diesel trains running on the Chiltern Line. The upcoming contract renewal is a prime opportunity to demonstrate government’s commitment to improved air quality because, if missed, it will leave residents around our stations, as well as passengers on the service itself, exposed to unacceptably poor air quality for years to come.”
Earlier this month residents in Marylebone called on transport minister Chris Heaton-Harris to act. They want an immediate end to Class 68 diesel locomotives and a clear timeline for new hybrid trains to be brought in.
They believe rules that apply to diesel cars should also apply to the railway service. Westminster’s leader Cllr Rachael Robathan said:
“It doesn’t matter if they are sitting in stations in Birmingham or Marylebone or running through scenic countryside, the end polluting result is the same. With one voice we are saying: it’s time to ditch the diesel”.
Birmingham council leader Ian Ward said:
“If diesel cars are being progressively phased out, the same must apply to diesel trains."
Cllr Liz Leffman, leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said:
“It’s clear that diesel trains must be consigned to history given the nation’s aims to become carbon-zero.”
