Article for MyNews

David writes for the local MyNews magazines...

For politicians, the Christmas break can be one of the most relaxing of the year. No one wants to be troubled by politics over the festive season if they can help it (both the public and the more sensible MPs) and it is a chance to spend some time with the family. Trips to the Pantomime (‘Cinderella’ at Watersmeet was fun) and, a first for me, also taking the boys to Hyde Park for the Winter Wonderland. Did I say ‘relaxing’? Anyway, a change is as good as a rest and all that. Batteries can be recharged, ready for the year ahead.

And this is always just as well, as Christmas becomes a distant memory. Constituency casework tends to be at its busiest. People often postpone a problem or issue in December, but take it up with their MP in January.

Before turning to the year ahead, there are a couple of transport issues from last year worth discussing. First, the familiar issue of the Metropolitan Line. As mentioned previously, the last few months has seen deterioration in the service in terms of fewer seats and, on the Amersham branch, trains stopping at all stations on a regular, if unscheduled, basis.

In December, I met with London Underground to raise my concerns. The meeting was a couple of days after a new timetable had been brought in which increased the number of peak-time trains on the Amersham branch. Some of those trains will be stop at some of the intermediary stations but the increase in capacity is itself welcome and it seems that getting a seat is easier than it was.

The bad news is that all off-peak trains on the Amersham branch are now stopping at the intermediary stations. This adds seven minutes to the journey time between Moor Park and Baker Street. I put the case to London Underground that this is not a good enough service and that, as a compromise, there should be at least one ‘fast’ off-peak service an hour. I will continue to make the case but do let me know of your thoughts on the new timetable.

A second transport issue is the proposed Croxley rail link. The Government gave the go-ahead in December, although there are still a number of hurdles that need to be jumped in terms of planning permission and raising the funds.

The proposal is that the Watford branch of the Metropolitan Line will, after it leaves Croxley station, go to Watford Junction rather than the existing Watford underground station in Cassiobury. There will be two new intermediary stops, at Ascot Road and Vicarage Road, as well as a stop at the existing Watford High Street station.

Of course, any change will have disadvantages for some people and there are understandable concerns from those living in Dorrofield Close and elsewhere that they will be affected by train noise and the disruption caused by the construction of a viaduct and bridge from Baldwins Lane over the dual carriageway.

However, on balance, I support the proposal. It is clearly good news for Watford and west Watford in particular. But for residents living near Croxley and Moor Park stations in particular (and, to a lesser extent, Rickmansworth and Chorleywood) this improves the public transport link to Watford Hospital, the football ground and the Harlequin shopping centre considerably.

If all goes to plan, the project should be completed by 2016. To get a sense of the route, the Croxley Rail Link website has a very impressive ‘3D flythrough’ on the consultation section of its website.
Anyway, that doesn’t leave me too much space to discuss the year ahead. On a national front, I hope that we will see the UK and world economy picking up as the year goes along (that’s the general forecast for the UK – Eurozone permitting). Locally, I hope 2012 will see significant progress on getting a new secondary school in the area. I am sure that I will return to that subject in the months ahead but if there are any particular topics you would like to cover, do let me know.