Councillors "deeply concerned" about cutting public transport to Pershore
Pershore railway station and car park is set to be revamped. Nick Toogood.A Pershore councillor has spoken out and said he is "deeply concerned" about the cutting of public transport to the town.
At a meeting of the town council on Thursday Cllr Julian Palfrey said reductions to the number of stops at Pershore Train Station were leading to concerns about the level of service being delivered to the town.
The issue came to the fore again at the meeting as the council discussed an email and letter they had received from First Great Western.
Cllr Palfrey said: "I am deeply concerned and very frustrated at these letters. In now way does it give me any comfort that First Great Western are committed to maintaining the service to Pershore. They are really using this as an excuse. I think people are pursuing this faster journey time."
The concerns come after it was announced last year that the number of stops at the station was to be reduced by two in order to reduce the travel time between Worcester and London Paddington.
"There's no need to withdraw stops at Pershore," said Cllr Palfrey. "I think Pershore needs a better service. Pershore shouldn't be sacrificed at the expense of faster times when that could be achieved without lesser stops by re-timing the stops."
It's not the first time the council have discussed concerns about public transport links, with many concerned the situation will only get worse as hundreds of new homes are to be built in Pershore.
Cllr Palfrey added: "There's going to be this extra housing and we haven't got the transport links in place to cope with that extra demand."
The worries were exacerbated when one of the trains used by school children was cancelled and an earlier train could not be stopped at the station to avoid them becoming stranded due to drivers hours.
The old concern surrounding the limited car parking spaces was also raised as the Mayor of Pershore Cllr Tony Rowley, who said there seemed to be no mention of the extension talked about in the town for more than a decade.
He said: "I, like you, share the view they seem hell bent on this two hours and faster times. If you want to save those minutes go earlier. It seems ridiculous. The second thing is this situation over the car parking, there's nothing in this email that gives me comfort that anything's going to be done about Pershore car parking."
The council decided to write to express their concerns to First Great Western.
A First Great Western spokesman said the business was working with its partners to see the car park expanded.
They added: "A spokesman for First Great Western said: ^These changes offer real improvements for the vast majority of our customers travelling on this line. Such timetable alterations are always about us striking a balance between providing faster services and providing stopping services, and it is not always easy.
^Thanks to our consultation process, we have been able to strike that balance to deliver more frequent, faster services for customers with minimum compromise and, importantly pave the way for further improvements once the electrification of the Mainline has been completed.^
