Whitby can’t rely on the trains, where are the transport voices calling for broader investment on the coast? - Yorkshire Post Letters

So HS2 north of Birmingham is no more, it has ceased to be, it is an ex-project. In its place, the Department for Transport has published its ‘Network North’ policy paper, which is described as ‘A £36 billion plan to improve the transport that people use every day’.

It promises that, “Projects could include more trams for Blackpool, more electric buses in Harrogate, and better bus-rail interchange in Scarborough.” You won’t find a mention of Whitby.

Where are the transport voices calling for broader investment in the coast? Whitby is at the end of the line. It’s not a very good line. We can’t rely on the trains; we can’t rely on the buses; a better interchange here would be lovely, if there were any services to change between.

Our community is cut off. Better connectivity for the community and better facilities for motorists flocking to the coast would be good. Better charging points would be good. Better facilities for cyclists would be good. Genuinely low carbon, sustainable transport options would be good.

The rail network has forgotten Whitby, North Yorkshire Council, as the accountable transport and highways authority, is not fighting for Whitby. We can shout loudly from the mouth of the River Esk, but the levers of control are beyond our grasp.

Are we waiting for a York and North Yorkshire Mayor in 2024 to spread the jam thinly from the East Coast Main Line and the A1 to the eastern edge of Yorkshire?

HS2 was never about us. It looks like ‘Network North’ isn’t about us either.

Whitby needs connectivity, it is estimated that upwards of a million visitors a year flock to our lovely Town. We need connectivity; we want to be included in helping to achieve carbon neutral targets. Whitby needs to be included.

There will be those in Whitby, claiming to have the people’s best interests at heart, rushing, as usual, on any important issue, to jump on this ‘bandwagon’. The shame is, we haven’t got a decent rail-line to run it on.

Whitby, ‘The Jewel in the Crown’ once again left to go it alone.